About us

Alejandro Rasteletti is a leading specialist at the IDB and is currently in charge of coordinating the knowledge cluster of the Fiscal Management Division. At the IDB he served as a tax specialist for Mexico and Colombia, countries where he led technical dialogue and various fiscal strengthening programs. He was also a country economist for Uruguay. Prior to joining the IDB, he was a consultant in the research department of the World Bank and a consultant for the International Monetary Fund. Alejandro has a PhD in economics from the University of Maryland and has published several articles in books and specialized magazines.

Ana Cristina Calderón R is a sector specialist in public procurement at the IDB's fiscal division. She is an expert on issues relating to public management compliance assessments, aid effectiveness and the modernization of public procurement systems in Latin America and the Caribbean. She Holds a PhD from the Maastricht University, school of Government (UNU-MERIT) and MSc in Social Policy and Development from London School of Economics. She has also completed studies on Economic and Foreign Policy at American University in Washington DC and on the use of data analysis for strategic communication from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Ana Lucía Paiva Dezolt é especialista na Divisão de Gestão Fiscal do BID no Brasil desde 1994. Atualmente, é responsável pela supervisão de projetos de modernização da gestão fiscal nos estados brasileiros. Ela também trabalha transversalmente em questões fiscais e municipais, além de ser certificada em aquisições, sendo no Brasil a interlocutora setorial do governo brasileiro em compras. Ela é membro do grupo de análise de PPP e do grupo de reengenharia de processos do Banco. Publicou documentos sobre finanças públicas e gerenciamento de desempenho. Foi professora de Relações Econômicas Internacionais no Instituto Rio Branco / Ministério das Relações Exteriores e consultora da série de políticas fiscais da Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe / CEPAL, realizada em conjunto com o Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada / IPEA (1989 / 1994). É economista formada pela Universidade de Brasília - UnB, pós-graduada em Psicologia pelo Centro de Estudos da Universidade de Brasília - UNICEUB, com mestrado pendente em economia pela UNB e experiência em avaliação e gerenciamento de projetos (BID).

André Martínez Fritscher es Especialista Senior de la División de Gestión Fiscal del BID. Anteriormente se desempeñó como Economista de país en el mismo BID y como Gerente de Análisis de las Finanzas Públicas en el Banco de México. Cuenta con estudios de licenciatura en el Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas en México y un doctorado en economía por la Universidad de Boston. Sus áreas de interés son política macrofiscal, descentralización fiscal y eficiencia del gasto público, temas sobre los cuales ha escrito artículos de investigación.

Andrés Muñoz is an economist from the Universidad de los Andes and holds a master's degree and a doctorate in Public Administration from New York University (NYU). He currently works as a Senior Fiscal Specialist in the IDB's Fiscal Management Division, and in the past he served as a researcher and teaching assistant in public finance and democratic governance at NYU, and as a consultant to the United Nations Development Program ( UNDP) and the Bogotá District Finance Secretariat. His areas of expertise include decentralization, local public finance, and financing urban development. He has experience in the design and execution of fiscal and urban development projects in various Latin American countries, and has conducted research on fiscal decentralization, property taxation, equalization transfers, and sub-national capital markets in this region.

Ariel Zaltsman es el especialista sectorial de la división de Gestión Fiscal (FMM) del BID en República Dominicana. Previamente, fue coordinador de la cartera de proyectos de FMM y se desempeñó como asesor de operaciones de la gerencia del departamento de Instituciones para el Desarrollo. También fue “research fellow” en la Oficina de Evaluación y Supervisión del BID. Antes de incorporarse al BID, trabajó en el Ministerio de Economía de Argentina y realizó consultorías para el Banco Mundial y para el Centro Latinoamericano de Administración para el Desarrollo (CLAD). Ariel tiene varias publicaciones sobre temas relacionados con presupuesto por resultados y la institucionalización de sistemas de monitoreo y evaluación en América Latina. Cuenta con una licenciatura y una maestría en Sociología (de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y el London School of Economics, respectivamente) y con un doctorado en Administración Pública (de la Universidad de Nueva York).

Lead Specialist in the IDB's Fiscal Management Division at headquarters, from where he coordinates the decentralization cluster and subnational governments. Previously, he worked as a Specialist in the Representations of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Peru, and worked in the Office of Monitoring and Evaluation. In the Argentine National Government, he coordinated the “Cristal” fiscal transparency program and the Electronic Government initiative of the Head of Cabinet of Ministers and was a researcher at CIPPEC and CEDI. Axel is an Economist from the Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina, MPP from the Harvard School of Government and a Doctor in Public Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Carlos Pimenta is a Principal Specialist in the IDB's Fiscal Management Division. He has more than 25 years of experience in matters of modernization of public management, including 8 years in the Government in Brazil, 5 in private consultancies and 13 in the IDB, where he led public management reform projects in more than 10 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. During the 90s in Brazil he held the positions of Executive Secretary of the Council for State Reform, National Secretary in the Ministry of Administration and State Reform, President of the National School of Public Administration, and Vice-minister of Labor and of the Public administration. He has degrees in public administration and a master's in public management from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil. Currently he concentrates his work mainly in the areas of public financial management.

Chief Economist of the IDB's Fiscal Management Division. She is currently in charge of coordinating knowledge in fiscal policy and management and has led and collaborated in various fiscal strengthening programs in countries in the region. She holds Master in Economics from CEMA University and a Master and Ph.D in Economics from the University of Chicago. She was Secretary of Fiscal Equity (Deputy Chief of Staff) of the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers in Argentina and member of the Economic Council of Advisers to the Minister of Finance of Argentina between 1996 and 1999. During her tenure in government, she designed important projects such as partnership federal tax system and the design, implementation and management of the first integrated information system for fiscal and social purposes (SINTyS) in Latin America of which she was General Coordinator. She was director of the Department of Economics at the CEMA University; Professor and director of the Center for Poverty Studies of the Torcuato Di Tella University; Professor at Duke University and Visiting Fellow at Yale University and the Center for Global Development. She is the author of dozens of academic papers on tax issues, both on public spending and national and sub-national taxation; in labor and social economy; and in fiscal equity, especially in Latin America, and is co-editor of the IDB flagship publication Better Spending for Better Lives.

Emilio Pineda serves as Chief of the Fiscal Management Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) since September 2019. A Mexican citizen, he has a PhD in Political Economy at the University of Columbia, and a bachelor's degree from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). Between 2003 and 2008 he worked as an economist in the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he was responsible for conducting monetary, fiscal, and debt analysis for the Caribbean. Between May 2008 and June 2012, he worked at the Secretary of Finance in Mexico, where, among others, he was responsible for the monitoring and regulation of subnational debt, the accounting harmonization of states and municipalities, and the tax regime of public enterprises including the Mexican state-owned petroleum company, PEMEX. Between 2012 and 2019, he was a Principal Fiscal Specialist of the Fiscal Management Division at the IDB, where he led programs to strengthen subnational fiscal management in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. He has published numerous articles in the field of decentralization, subnational taxation, subnational debt and state-owned enterprises.

Gerardo Reyes-Tagle is a Lead Fiscal Economist in the IDB's Fiscal Management Division. He has more than 15 years of experience working on issues related to fiscal policy and tax administration, the quality of spending and debt sustainability. Over the years, Gerardo has led the high-level policy dialogue (for example, fiscal policy reforms, fiscal consolidation programs, debt restructuring, institutional capacity building, etc.), key technical assistance, work in the sector economic and financial operations across the spectrum of public finance in Latin America. He has directed and coordinated programs, analytical studies, and technical assistance with the IMF and the World Bank, among other multilateral organizations. Lately, he has focused on the analysis of fiscal risks that may pose threats to fiscal sustainability in the Latin American region, including those related to macroeconomic fluctuations, natural disasters, public companies, exchange rate fluctuations and interest rates, public-private partnerships, etc. It has provided technical assistance in establishing risk units within ministries of finance to help strengthen the identification and mitigation of fiscal risks. Before joining the IDB, Gerardo worked at the Energy Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Finance in Mexico. He did his Master in Public Policy and Ph.D. in economics studies at Georgetown University and George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Huáscar Eguino is a Senior Consultant in the Fiscal Management Division of the IDB. He is an economist specialized in fiscal policies and climate change, subnational public finance, and public investment management. During his more than 20 years of experience as an IDB specialist, he worked directly with 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, advised more than 75 subnational governments, and coordinated the development of two emerging issues at the IDB: fiscal policy and climate change and subnational fiscal management. Currently, he works as a consultant providing advice and supporting the development of financial and knowledge products on fiscal policy and climate change matters. He holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies of the University of Rotterdam, and postgraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of the Andes. In addition, he holds more than 10 professional certifications in fiscal policy and climate change and public finance. He is (co-)author of more than 20 publications in the IDB that have exceeded more than 120 thousand downloads.

José I. Larios es Especialista Fiscal Líder de la División de Gestión Fiscal del BID. Cuenta con más de 20 años de experiencia en temas de reforma fiscal, descentralización fiscal y finanzas municipales. Ha participado en proyectos de reforma y modernización fiscal, descentralización fiscal, finanzas municipales e introducción de soluciones tecnológicas en la gestión de finanzas públicas. Antes de unirse al BID participo y lideró equipos que modernizaron los Ministerios de Hacienda en Guatemala, El Salvador, Moldova, Kosovo, y de las Municipalidades de San Salvador, El Salvador, Municipalidades del Estado de California, Albania, Macedonia, entre otros. Es economista por la Universidad de California, Berkeley, e hizo estudios de Maestría en Economía Aplicada en San Francisco State University y de Administración Publica en la Kennedy School of Government de la Universidad de Harvard.

Juan Luis Gomez Reino es Especialista Líder de la División de Gestión Fiscal del BID para Argentina, Chile y Uruguay. Anteriormente basado en Quito, fue responsable de la cartera de operaciones de la División Fiscal en Ecuador y Bolivia, donde ha generado innovadores programas de apoyo, los primeros de su clase, en Asociaciones Público-Privadas y reforma de Empresas Públicas, además de préstamos de políticas en apoyo a reformas fiscales estructurales. Previo a su llegada al BID, Juan Luis fue Especialista Principal de Sector Público en el Banco Asiático de Desarrollo y Economista del Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo. Ha liderado el diseño e implementación de programas de reforma en política fiscal, finanzas municipales y descentralización en Latinoamérica y Asia, y el desarrollo de marcos normativos e institucionales para la generación de proyectos bajo la modalidad de asociación público-privada.

Leslie Harper has over 20 years of experience as an international development professional working on Latin America and the Caribbean and is an expert in public procurement reform and modernization. She is the Gender and Diversity Focal Point for the Fiscal Management Division where she is responsible for portfolio monitoring and mainstreaming of gender and diversity in fiscal projects. She has supported multiple countries in the Latin America region in the development of women in public procurement programs.

She has been the lead on high profile events and knowledge products to promote cutting edge trends in the topic. Ms. Harper is the author of multiple publications and has participated as a speaker in numerous events in the US and overseas. She has an undergraduate degree from the Elliot School of International Relations at the George Washington University, a Master’s Degree in Latin American Studies from the University of London, and was an awarded an Executive Certificate in Public Financial Management from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Luis Alejos is a Sector Specialist at the IDB's Fiscal Division. Luis has more than 10 years of work experience in public sector, multilateral and academic institutions, including roles as Director of Public Credit at the Ministry of Finance in Guatemala, Country Economist for El Salvador at the IDB and Lecturer of International Trade and International Finance at Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala. His policy and research interests focus on fiscal policy and development economics, including topics such as tax evasion and avoidance, the fiscal impacts of climate change, and the potential challenges and opportunities of the emergence of digital currencies in the context of public finance. Luis holds a PhD in Public Policy and Economics from the University of Michigan, and a BSc and MSc in Economics from University College London in England.

Especialista Líder de la División de Gestión Fiscal, donde ha dirigido varios programas y asistencia técnica en gestión fiscal en Brasil. Tiene amplia experiencia en temas relacionados con política y gestión fiscal, descentralización fiscal, finanzas subnacionales y calidad del gasto público, con diversas publicaciones. Es investigadora licenciada en el Instituto de Investigación Económica Aplicada (IPEA) del Gobierno de Brasil y actuó como Directora General de la Escuela de Administración de Empresas (ESAF) del Ministerio de Economía de Brasil. Fue profesora en cursos de pregrado y posgrado en economía y se desempeñó como consultora del Banco Mundial, la Organización Internacional del Trabajo (OIT) y el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Tiene una Maestría en Economía de la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco y un Doctorado en Economía de la Universidad de Brasilia.

Martin Ardanaz is a senior specialist in Fiscal Management at the Inter-American Development Bank based in Costa Rica, where he leads the design and execution of fiscal strengthening projects in the Central American region. His area of ​​expertise includes the political economy of public finances in developing countries. He has coordinated the preparation of the fiscal chapters of the IDB's Annual Macroeconomic Report on several occasions, and has publications on various topics of public finances both at the national and subnational levels, including: fiscal rules, public investment, efficiency of public spending, and political economy of tax reforms. He has published articles and chapters in specialized journals such as World Development, Journal of International Money and Finance, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, and Oxford Handbook of Latin American Economics, among others.

Especialista líder en Administración Tributaria en la División de Gestión Fiscal del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo. Se especializó en la modernización de Administraciones Tributarias en América Latina y el Caribe a través del desarrollo de capacidades y apoyo a la digitalización. Es la autora del libro Gestão Tributaria: uma abordagem multidisciplinar, donde explora una visión holística de la tributación como parte de las operaciones de negocios. Anteriormente trabajó para el gobierno de Brasil y el Fondo Monetario Internacional. Tiene un PhD en Contaduría de la Universidad de São Paulo y una licenciatura en Economía.

Oscar Valencia is a Lead Economist in the IDB's Fiscal Division and head of the platform FISLAC – Fiscal Sustainability for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining the IDB, Oscar was the General Director of Macroeconomic Policy at the Colombian Ministry of Finance. He has served as technical secretary of the Independent Committee for Fiscal Rule in Colombia and as a member of several boards of directors in Colombian organizations, including Colpensiones (defined pension system), Coljuegos (gambling regulator) as well as an Interim General Director of Fogafin (guarantee fund of financial institutions). He also worked as a researcher at Colombia’s Central Bank and the Colombian National Planning Department. Previously, he also worked as a consultant in the IDB's Research Department. Oscar's research agenda focuses on fiscal policy and macroeconomics, mainly in emerging economies. He has published in different academic journals on topics related to macroeconomic policy. He holds a Ph.D. with Honors in Economics from the Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), a Master's in Mathematical Economics from the same university and a Bachelor's and Master's with Honors in Economics from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.

Especialista Sénior de la División de Gestión Fiscal del BID en Brasil. Se desempeña en proyectos para la modernización e integración de la gestión fiscal de los estados brasileños. Previamente trabajó como Subsecretaria en la Secretaría de Asuntos Internacionales del Ministerio de Planificación, encargada de la relación con organismos internacionales y coordinación de la cartera de proyectos financiados con recursos externos. Es egresada de la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Relaciones Internacionales de la Universidad de Brasilia, donde también estudió Derecho. Especialización en Negociaciones Económicas Internacionales en el Institut d'Administration Publique y entrenamiento ejecutivo en la Harvard Business School.

Ubaldo Gonzalez de Frutos is a Sector Lead Specialist in Tax Administration at the IDB Headquarters in Washington D.C., with international taxation and modernization of the tax administration as his main interests.
He has held various responsibilities in the Spanish Tax Agency, including the territorial Federal Tax Service Inspectorate, the Office of the General Director, the National Office of Tax Management, the Department of Financial and Tax Inspection and the Central Delegation of Large Taxpayers. The other part of his career has taken him to international positions, first as a financial advisor at the Embassy of Spain in the United States (2003-2008), then as an expert at the Center for Tax Policy and Administration of the OECD (2010-2018), and currently at the Inter-American Development Bank.
He has published research papers on the relation between taxation and development, in particular the mobilization of national resources. Other areas of research are corporate tax liability, technology applied to the tax administration and the future of Corporate Tax.
Ubaldo González holds a PhD in Law and a degree in Philology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a member of the Higher Body of Tax Inspectors. He has taught numerous seminars and conferences around the world. It is an extraordinary doctorate prize, a prize from the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain, and a research prize from the Center for Financial Studies.