Rodrigo Valdés
Director of the Western Hemisphere Department
Rodrigo Valdés is a Chilean economist and has been the Director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the IMF since May 2023. Prior to joining the Fund, he served as a Professor of Economics at the Catholic University of Chile and held board positions in various private sector companies. Previously, he served as Chile's Minister of Finance from 2015 to 2017. Throughout his career, Mr. Valdés has held prominent roles at the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, including Director of Research and Chief Economist. Additionally, he has served as Deputy Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department (where he also was mission chief for the US) and European Department. Mr. Valdés has significant experience in the banking sector, having been the President of the Board and Executive Committee at Banco Estado, Chile’s sole state-owned bank. He has also worked as Director and Chief Economist for Latin America at Barclays Capital and as Chief Economist (Latin America ex-Brazil) at investment bank BTG Pactual. Mr. Valdés earned a PhD in Economics from MIT and a BA in Economics from the University of Chile. His contributions extend to publishing numerous academic and policy papers on monetary and fiscal policies, as well as on international finance.