Balancing economic reform and stability: Paraguayan lessons for policymakers
Hosted by the Department of International Development
In-person public event (LSE campus, venue tbc to ticketholders)
Tuesday 17 February 2026 6.30pm - 8pm
Join us as we welcome Carlos Gustavo Fernández Valdovinos, Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance, for a lecture on the country’s economic transformation from crisis management to achieving investment grade.
Valdovinos will share lessons on balancing stability with reform, fostering inclusion, and building resilient institutions.
Meet our speaker and chair
Carlos Gustavo Fernández Valdovinos is Paraguay’s Minister of Economy and Finance and former Central Bank Governor of the country. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago and has served as a Senior Economist at the IMF and Country Economist at the World Bank. His leadership has been recognised with numerous awards, including “Finance Minister of the Year – Americas” (The Banker, 2025). He has been selected to chair the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings in 2026.
Jean-Paul Faguet is Professor of Political Economy of Development at LSE and Chair of the Decentralization Task Force at Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue. His research bridges economics and political science, using mixed methods to study institutions and organisational forms that drive development. He has published widely, including Governance from Below: Decentralization and Popular Democracy in Bolivia, winner of the W.J.M. Mackenzie Prize for best political science book of 2012.
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