Portuguese economist, university professor, and politician
Joao Rodrigo Reis Carvalho Leao
(born 15 February 1974) is a Portuguese economist,
university professor
, and politician. He served as
Minister of Finance
in the government of Prime Minister
Antonio Costa
of Portugal, sworn in on 15 June 2020.
Early life and education
[
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]
Leao was born in Lisbon in 1974. He completed his BSc degree in economics in
Nova School of Economics
. Later, he went on to obtain a PhD in economics at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in 2008. His PhD thesis advisor was
Abhijit Banerjee
, Nobel Prize in Economics.
Career
[
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]
In 2024 Leao was appointed by the Council of the European Union as the Portuguese Member of the European Court of the Auditors, after a hearing and the endorsement of the European Parliament.
[1]
He was Minister of State and Finance between 2020 and 2022.
In 2021 he was elected President of the Board of Governors European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Leao chaired the meetings of the
Economic and Financial Affairs Council
(ECOFIN) when Portugal held the rotating
presidency of the European Council
in the first semester of 2021.
[2]
Leao previously served as Secretary of State for the Budget from 2015 until 2020.
[3]
He was Director-General of Research Office of the Ministry of Economy from 2010 to 2014.
In the government led by
Pedro Passos Coelho
, Leao was a member of the Economic and Social Council, working in the
Ministry of the Economy
and serving as a delegate to the
OECD
.
[4]
As Minister of Finance, Leao oversaw the government's overhaul plan for ailing
TAP Air Portugal
amid the
COVID-19 pandemic
, proposing 2,000 job cuts by 2022, pay cuts of up to 25% and 2 billion euros ($2.46 billion) in extra funds with state guarantees to cover financing needs until 2024.
[5]
While Leao was at Ministry of Finance, Portugal achieved in 2019 the first budget surplus of the 45 years of the country's democratic history.
[6]
During this period, between 2015 and 2022, Portugal was the second country in the EU that the decreased the most its budget deficit from 4,4% to 0,3% and the third country that decreased the most its public debt.
After the peak of the pandemic in 2021, While Leao was Minister of Finance, Portugal was also among the first group of Euro area countries to reach a budget deficit below the European limit of 3%. Portugal's fiscal deficit fell from 5,8% in 2020 to 0.3% of GDP in 2022, significantly better than the budget deficit in the eurozone of 3.6% of GDP. Meanwhile, the decline in Portugal's debt ratio was the third largest in the eurozone between 2020 and 2022. Debt-to-GDP fell 21 p.p. in those 2 years, compared with an average decline of 5.6 p.p. in the eurozone.
[7]
[8]
In 2022, Leao became Portugal’s nominee to succeed
Klaus Regling
as Managing Director of the
European Stability Mechanism
;
[9]
[10]
his candidacy was later endorsed by the French government
[11]
and later achieved the majority of the weighted votes in the July 2022 meeting of Board of Governors of the ESM.
[12]
[13]
The nomination process narrowed to Leao and
Pierre Gramegna
, but both pulled out in September 2022 having failed to secure the votes required.
[14]
Other activities
[
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]
- European Union organizations
- International organizations
References
[
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]
- ^
"Court of Auditors: MEPs back new Portuguese and Swedish candidates | News | European Parliament"
. 12 December 2023.
- ^
"Informal video conference of economic and finance ministers, 16 February 2021"
.
- ^
The Associated Press (9 June 2020).
"Portugal Finance Chief and Eurogroup Chair Quits Government"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
10 June
2020
.
- ^
Victoria Waldersee and Catarina Demony (9 June 2020),
Portugal's finance minister Centeno to step down
Reuters
.
- ^
Sergio Goncalves and Ingrid Melander (January 7, 2021),
Exclusive: Portugal confident it will get EU green light for TAP rescue plan in first quarter
Reuters
.
- ^
"Portugal ends 2019 with budget surplus of 0.2% of GDP-INE"
.
Reuters
. 25 March 2020.
- ^
"Euro area government deficit at 3.6% and EU at 3.4% of GDP - Products Euro Indicators - Eurostat"
.
ec.europa.eu
. Retrieved
5 December
2023
.
- ^
"Fitch Revises Portugal's Outlook to Positive; Affirms at 'BBB'
"
.
Fitch Ratings
. 6 May 2022
. Retrieved
5 December
2023
.
- ^
Paola Tamma (23 May 2022),
From patient to doctor: Portugal makes bid to lead the bloc’s bailout fund
Politico Europe
.
- ^
Paola Tamma (23 May 2022),
Finance ministers narrow options for eurozone bailout chief
Politico Europe
.
- ^
Bjorn Finke (16 June 2022),
Finanzmarkt: Wer wird Herr uber 414 Milliarden Euro?
Suddeutsche Zeitung
.
- ^
https://www.https
Archived
19 August 2013 at the
Wayback Machine
://www.politico.eu/article/italy-backs-out-of-race-for-bailout-fund-chief-ahead-of-key-vote/
- ^
"Joao Leao foi o mais votado, mas nao chegou para ganhar a corrida ao Mecanismo Europeu de Estabilidade"
. 11 July 2022.
- ^
Bjorn Finke (16 June 2022),
Eurozone bailout job vacant as economic clouds loom
Euractiv
, 7 October 2022.
- ^
Board of Governors
European Investment Bank
(EIB).
- ^
Board of Governors
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB).
- ^
Board of Governors
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD).
- ^
Board of Governors
Archived
4 November 2018 at the
Wayback Machine
Inter-American Investment Corporation
(IIC).
- ^
Board of Governors
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
(MIGA),
World Bank Group
.
- ^
Board of Governors
World Bank
.