Manuel Marfán

José Manuel Marfán Lewis (born 26 December 1952) is a Chilean politician and economist who served as vice president of the Central Bank of Chile. Similarly, he served as Minister of Finance.

Early life and education Marfán is the son of Álvaro Marfán Jaramillo, a member of the Christian Democratic Party who worked at National Planning Office (ODEPLAN) and was a close adviser to President Eduardo Frei Montalva, and Florence Lewis Ravinet.

He is married to economist Margarita Sánchez Muñoz, daughter of Salustio Sánchez Carmona, who served as a municipal councillor for Talca in 1947.

Political career Marfán was one of the principal architects of the tax reform enacted during the first Concertación administration under President Patricio Aylwin, serving as a close adviser to Finance Minister Alejandro Foxley. Before entering government, he had worked with Foxley at CIEPLAN in developing the economic platform of the democratic opposition to Augusto Pinochet.

He served as Minister of Finance under President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle from December 1999 to March 2000, succeeding Eduardo Aninat, who resigned to assume a senior position at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prior to his appointment, Marfán had served as regional adviser and director of the Economic Development Division at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

As a member of the Socialist Party of Chile, Marfán became the only Socialist politician to serve as Minister of Finance during the four Concertación administrations. He was also the first Socialist to hold the office since Felipe Herrera, who served during the second administration of President Carlos Ibáñez del Campo.

Other activities Marfán has advised the governments of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay on macroeconomic and fiscal policy, as well as the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica.

He has published extensively in academic journals and books in Chile and abroad. He has taught macroeconomics and fiscal policy at the University of Chile, the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, ILADES–Georgetown University, the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), and the Seminar on Economic Policies for Latin America (SPEAL).

In August 2008, he was appointed chairman of the Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics (IFC), an organization affiliated with the International Statistical Institute (ISI) and sponsored by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel.

In January 2010, he became vice president of the Central Bank of Chile following the departure of Jorge Desormeaux. He was re-elected to the position in early 2012.

He is a senior researcher at CIEPLAN and director of the CIEPLAN–University of Talca Program. He also serves as chairman of the board of Chile Transparente.