The Daily Journal — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed Spanish economist Álvaro Piris Chavarri as its new mission chief for Venezuela, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The move signals progress toward rebuilding the institution’s relationship with the country after years of distance.
Piris brings a background in macroeconomics and extensive experience managing financial crises. He has led technical assistance missions across Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe.
He currently serves as deputy director of the IMF’s Africa Department and as mission chief for Ethiopia.
His experience also includes work on crisis countries and assistance programs in Latin America and Europe, along with supervision and technical support activities. Before his current position, he served as mission chief for Mozambique.
Within the IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, he worked on bank resolution, deposit insurance systems, distressed asset management, and financial crisis response.
He also led the Financial Sector Assessment Program for Lebanon and served as deputy head of the China assessment mission, according to the IMF website.
Piris has headed technical assistance missions in Africa, Asia, and Europe. He has also contributed to IMF policy work, including a paper for the Executive Board on cross-border resolution and earlier work on the size of the institution’s resource base. Before joining the IMF, he worked as an economist in both the public and private sectors. He holds degrees in Economics from the London School of Economics and the University of Sussex.
