XX Meeting of Heads of Monetary Policy
November 18, 2025
CEMLA Mexico City, Mexico
Face-to-face
The purpose of this annual meeting is to bring together top-level monetary policy officials from Latin America and the Caribbean and advanced economies (United States of America, Canada and the Euro Zone) to exchange recent experiences in the conduct of their monetary policies. In the 2023 edition, for example, speakers included senior officials from the central banks of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay, with the participation of Óscar Arce, Director General of Economics of the European Central Bank. The 2024 edition will also include the participation of Trevor Reeve, Director of the Division of Monetary Affairs of the Federal Reserve of the United States of America.
The format of the Meeting allows us to learn about contemporary elements in the management of each country's monetary policy, such as the trajectory followed by the monetary instrument (typically, the key interest rate), its impact on activity, unconventional policies, measures of labor market slack and external balance and, finally, on general or core inflation. Likewise, the forecasts that each central bank contemplates for the future course of the inflation rate around the target rate or range are discussed. The Meeting has allowed for interaction among officials of the Membership, as well as for learning about the challenges and policies implemented by advanced economies.
Given the small and open economies of most of CEMLA's Member countries (particularly those from Latin America and the Caribbean), the description of each country's inflationary outlook goes beyond an account of the relevant domestic factors, and also incorporates a view of the global economy. In this sense, exposure to innovations in the implementation and conduct of monetary policy in advanced economies, in response to various economic, climatic and geopolitical shocks, and with unsuspected dynamics, are of particular importance for the design and implementation of monetary policy in the central banks of the Membership.
Mauro Alessandro
Mauro Alessandro is the Economic Research Deputy General Manager at the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic. He graduated in Economics from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Before taking up his current position at the BCRA, he served as Deputy Manager for the General Management Office and as Economic Research Deputy General Manager.
He was also Monetary Policy Strategy and Communication Senior Manager, Economic Research Senior Manager, and Risk Assessment Senior Manager. Prior to joining the BCRA, he served as Head of Advisors of the Economic Policy Secretariat and as Advisor to the Argentine Ministry of Economy. In addition, he is a Professor in the Finance Master's course at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella (UTDT). He has lectured at many conferences, both in Argentina and abroad, and has written various papers on international finance.
André Amante
André Amante is the Head of the Open Market Operations Department at Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). 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 Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Nicolás Amoroso
Nicolás Amoroso is currently Director of Macroeconomic Analysis at Banco de México. Previously, he has served as a Researcher in the Research Department of the Real Sector and later as Manager of Macrofinancial Analysis. He has also worked in both the public and private sectors, including as Deputy Director of Banking Services at Bancomer, Advisor in the General Directorate of Fiscal Planning and the Undersecretariat of Revenue at the Ministry of Finance of Mexico, and as Research Assistant at the International Monetary Fund. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from ITAM, as well as a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland. His research interests include international economics, international trade, and public economics.
Óscar Arce
Óscar Arce is the Director General Economics at the European Central Bank (ECB). Previously, he worked at Banco de España, where he served as Director General of Economics, Statistics and Research, Associate Director General of Economics and Research, Director of Monetary and Financial Studies, and Head of the Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting Division. Formerly, he was the Director of the Research and Statistics Department at the Spanish Securities Markets Commission (CNMV), Deputy Director General at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister, and Senior Economist at the Banco de España. Mr. Arce holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a M.Sc. in Economics from University College London. He is an alternate member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council, member of the ECB's Monetary Policy Committee, and member of the EU's Economic and Financial Committee. Before, he was involved in the work of several international bodies, including the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
Joshua Gallin
Joshua Gallin currently serves as Secretary of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. He has previously held several leadership positions at the Board, including Associate Director, Deputy Associate Director, Assistant Director, Section Chief, Senior Economist, and Economist. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. His research interests focus on house prices and macroeconomics, as well as measuring the shadow banking system.
Carlos Huertas
Carlos Huertas is currently Director of the Department of Programming and Inflation at Banco de la República (Colombia). Previously, he has served as Head of Statistics and Head of the Financial Sector at Banco de la República, and subsequently joined Ultrabursátiles S.A. as Director of Research. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, as well as a Master's degree in Economics from ILADES/Georgetown University.
Carlos Montoro
Carlos Montoro has been the Monetary Policy Manager at the Banco Central de Reserva del Perú (BCRP) since March 2020. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a B.Sc. in Economics from Universidad del Pacífico (Lima, Peru). Previously he held the following positions: BCRP Deputy Manager for Monetary Policy Design (2018-2020); General Director of Macroeconomic and Fiscal Policy at the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru (2017-2018); Macro-Fiscal Studies Director at the Fiscal Council of Peru (2016-2017); Economic Studies Director at the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR) (2015, Bogotá, Colombia); and Senior Economist at the BIS Representative Office for the Americas (2010-2014, Mexico City). He has also held various positions at the BCRP (1995-2010).
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.
Leonardo Vicente
Leonardo Vicente is currently the Manager of Monetary Policy at the Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU); formerly, he held various positions at the BCU, such as Manager of Macroeconomic Analysis, Head of the Macroeconomic Modelling Department, and Head of the Fiscal Analysis Department. He is also a Professor of advanced macroeconomics and public finance at the Universidad de la República (Uruguay) and previously at Universidad Católica del Uruguay. He holds a degree in Economics from Universidad de la Republica and a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE). He has published in several refereed journals, such as Revista de Economía of the Banco Central del Uruguay and Cuadernos de Economía of UCUDAL. His main areas of interest are macroeconomics, monetary economics, public finance, and econometric modelling.