XIII Meeting of Heads of Central Banking Operations
June 26, 2023 – Videoconference
The XIII Meeting of Heads of Central Banking Operations was held in digital format on June 26, 2023. Representatives of the European Central Bank, Banco de España, Bank of Canada, Banco de México, Banco Central do Brasil, and Banco Central de Chile presented their recent experiences in central banking operations at the Meeting. Among the topics discussed were the quantitative tightening and market stability in the Eurozone, the recent implementation of monetary policy in a high and persistent inflation environment under the so-called floor system adopted by European Central Bank, the management of the size and composition of the central bank’s balance sheet in anticipation of the normalization of monetary policy in Canada, the implementation of monetary policy in Mexico in the context of the acute peso appreciation, the recent implementation and conduct of monetary policy in Brazil, and the lessons learned from the recent foreign exchange intervention in Chile.
XIII Meeting of Heads of Central Banking Operations
June 26, 2023 – Videoconference
André Amante
André Amante is the head of the Open Market Operations Department at Banco Central do Brasil. He is responsible for implementing the BCB's monetary operations, managing the central depository system for federal government securities, and providing assessments on monetary policy topics at the MPC meetings. Previously, he worked as a senior advisor in the same department from 2001 to 2018 and as a researcher in the BCB's Research Department from 1999 to 2001. Mr. Amante holds a Master degree in Business Administration from the Coppead School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, both from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gerardo García López
Gerardo García is the General Director of Central Banking Operations of Banco de México, and as such, is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy, exchange rate policy, and the investment of the Central Bank’s foreign currency reserves. The Central Bank is also the financial agent of the Federal Government; therefore, Mr. García is also responsible for conducting debt management operations, executing FX transactions, and implementing hedging programs on behalf of the Mexican Government. His former responsibilities included the management of the International Operations Division of the Central Bank. Mr. García holds a B.A. degree in Economics from the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (1999) and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree from Yale University (2005).
Emiliano González Mota
Emiliano González Mota is currently director of the Operations Department at Banco de España, institution where he has an extended professional career. Former Director of the Governors Office at Banco de España, he had previously served as Head of the International Financial Markets Division and Economist at the General Directorates of Economic and Statistics, International Affairs and Operations.
He has participated in Committees and Working Groups both in the context of the European Central Bank and in that of the Bank for International Settlements. To mention some, the International Relations Committee and the Markets Operations Committee (ECB) and a Global Financial Stability Committee Working Group (BIS) on Asset encumbrance, financial reform and the demand for collateral assets.
Holding a degree in Economics and Business Science from the University of Alicante (Spain), he has completed the Postgraduate Program on Economic Analysis from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and on Monetary Economy from the University of Pennsylvania (E.E.U.U.). He has been Professor Associate of Economics at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, where he regularly participates in the Postgraduate programs.
Felipe Musa
Felipe Musa is the Market Operations Manager of the Central Bank of Chile since November 2022. He has developed his career at the Bank, specifically with the Financial Markets Division. He joined in 2006 as National Money-desk Operator and advanced to the position of Head of the Open Market Operations Department in 2011, where he worked until his latest appointment. As from 2019 he has also served as Coordinator of the National Markets Committee. He holds a degree in Commercial Engineering from Universidad de Viña del Mar and a Master's Degree in Financial Management from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez.
Manuel Ramos-Francia
Manuel Ramos-Francia has a B. A. in Economics (with highest honors) from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship for graduate studies in the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University, where he graduated in 1993, specializing in Advanced Economic Theory and Financial Economics.
He has been Professor of Economics, having taught Advanced Macroeconomics, Open Economy Macroeconomics, Monetary Theory and Policy, and Financial Economics, and Director of the Center for Analysis and Economic Research at ITAM in Mexico. Dr. Ramos-Francia has held several positions at the Ministry of Finance: Deputy Minister (for Revenues), Chief Economist, and Chief Adviser to the Minister of Finance. He joined Banco de México in 2001, first serving as a Senior Adviser to the Board, then as Director General for Economic Research (Chief Economist) and, from April 2011 to December 2018, as Vice-Governor and Member of the Board. Currently, he is the Director General of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA).
He has given seminars at universities such as Yale Economics, Harvard Business, Harvard Law, Columbia Public Policy, the University of Chicago Business, and ITAM, among others. He has also given conferences and seminars at many central banks such as the Fed, the NY Fed, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Banque de France, and the central banks of Argentina, Ecuador, Jamaica, Peru, Guatemala, Turkey, and others, as well as at international financial organizations such as the IMF, the BIS, the World Bank, the IIF, and the IADB. Also, at organizations such as LACEA, LAMES, the International Economic Association (IEA), the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, and the Adam Smith Seminar. He has also been invited to be a member of the Bretton Woods Committee.
Manuel Ramos-Francia represented Mexico in the G20 Central Bank Deputies Group from 2010 to 2018. He was Chairman of the Deputies of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF from 2015 to 2017. Similarly, he presided over the Central Bank Deputies Group under Mexico's G20 Presidency in 2012. He was given the Professional Merit Service Award from ITAM in 2009.
He has published various articles on monetary policy, fiscal policy, trade and applied econometrics in refereed economics journals such as: Journal of Money Credit and Banking, Economics Letters, Journal of Financial Stability, and Quarterly Journal of Finance, and many others, as well as in specialized books. He has refereed for journals such as: Journal of Money, Credit and Banking; Empirical Economics; Review of World Economics; International Journal of Economic Sciences and Applied Research; The World Economy, and others. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Latin American Journal of Central Banking. Also, he was a member of the Association of the IJCB's (International Journal of Central Banking) Management Committee.
Torsti Silvonen
Torsti “Toto” Silvonen is the Deputy Director General of the Directorate General Market Operations at the European Central Bank. His responsibilities include the ECB’s activities in the areas of FX markets, foreign reserve management, ECB’s own funds and pension fund investments as well as planning, coordination and execution of the ECB’s asset purchase programmes. He has been the Chair of the ECB’s Foreign Exchange Contact Group since 2016 and member of the Global FX Committee since its inception. He was also one of the co-chairs for the Climate Change work stream for the ECB’s Strategy Review and leads climate change work at the ECB’s Market Operations area.
He has been at the ECB from its outset and spent also two years acting as an Advisor to the Central Bank of Bahrain. He started his central banking career at the Central Bank of Finland and has an M.Sc. from the Helsinki School of Economics.
Lorie Zorn
Lorie Zorn is a Senior Director in the Financial Markets Department at the Bank of Canada and located at the Bank’s Calgary operations site (COS). She is responsible for market operations conducted in Calgary, as well as the general oversight and management of the Calgary office. In the event that head office systems are unavailable, Ms. Zorn, as COS Senior Director, is responsible for overseeing all of the Bank’s financial market and banking operations.
Ms. Zorn has worked for the Bank of Canada for more than 20 years, and she has diverse experience across the Bank’s monetary policy, financial system stability and funds management functions. She has held increasingly senior roles in analysis and operations, as well as policy development and risk assessment. In 2015 she had a three-year special assignment to the International Monetary Fund. Ms. Zorn became Director of the Calgary operations team in 2019 and played a key role in setting up the Calgary site. She has been the head of the COS since 2022. Ms. Zorn holds Honours Bachelor of Commerce and Master of Economics degrees.