Alexandre Tombini

Career Tombini made a career in the federal public sector. He worked in the Ministry of Finance between 1991 and 1995, where he headed the technical team negotiating the Common External Tariff (CET) of Mercosur. Between 1995 and 1998, he was special advisor to the Board of Foreign Trade, Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic. He was credited for his role in devising a strategy to reduce inflation in 1999.

On November 24, 2010, Tombini was chosen by President Dilma Rousseff for the post of president of the Central Bank by his government, from 2011, replacing Henrique Meirelles and as a means of continuing the economic policy of the Lula government. In his first address, he said he would have full operational autonomy and that his goal is inflation control, which shall not exceed the target of 4.5 percent per year. He also said that the Central Bank's mission will be to ensure the purchasing power of the Brazilian real. He began his term in office by cutting interest rates from 12.5% to 7.5% however, his term coincided with economic decline in Brazil.