Isaac Alfie
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who is Isaac Alfie?
He is the new Uruguayan economy minister. He takes over from Alejandro Atchugarry, who is likely to run for the presidency next year. Alfie is a well-known economist. He has been an adviser to the economy ministry for the past 12 years and led the Uruguayan team in negotiations with the IMF last year.
Why watch him?
He is committed to the IMF package which calls for hefty public sector surpluses of 3.2% (and more in future years ) of GDP. He'll be quite stretched to hit these targets. Alfie is almost certainly considering calling for an increase in utility prices (essentially a disguised tax increase) to reach them. This is likely to test Uruguayans' patience with the disastrous government of President Jorge Batlle which has presided over the collapse of the economy.
Born: 1962
Place of birth:
Montevideo, Uruguay
Education:
He is qualified as an accountant and is an economics graduate from the Universidad de la República.
Public life:
Alfie is known in the financial markets as a consultant and investment guru. He has a hard image and his arrival at the economy ministry has been interpreted as a sign that Batlle is replacing a dove, Atchugarry, with a hawk. He is known by the sobriquet 'Doctor No'. He is married with two children.
Timeline:
1983 Company consultant
1985 Advisor to the planning office of the economy ministry.
1992 Advisor to the economy ministry
1995 Macroeconomic advisor to the economy ministry
2002 Accused of spiriting funds from his Uruguyan accounts abroad at the worst time of the Uruguayan banking crisis of 2002, triggered by the Argentine financial debacle.
2002 Formed part of the negotiating team which cemented a US$1.5bn bailout package from the IMF in July 2002 after massive capital flight from domestic banks.
2002 Formed part of the economic team surrounding his predecessor Alejandro Atchugarry
2003 Negotiated a US$5.3bn bond swap, with a total of 93% of Uruguay's creditors agreeing to longer payment terms.
2003 Appointed economy minister on 20 August
Strong points:
He is a young and brilliant economist, respected in the markets and well recognised in international circles, including among multilateral lenders such as the IMF. He is a hard negotiator.
Weak points:
He is an orthodox economist, prepared to carry out to the letter the tough conditions set out in the last IMF agreement. He favours increasing the price of public services to reach the surplus asked for by the IMF, which could generate inflationary pressures and greater social disenchantment with the Batlle administration.
Prospects:
After the 2002 banking crisis, in which Uruguay bore the brunt of Argentina's financial meltdown, this country has failed to find any clear economic direction. Alfie, in contrast to his Argentine counterpart Roberto Lavagna, is unfazed by compromising. His arrival at the economy ministry, however, could signify for Uruguay a better negotiating profile with the multilaterals, given his experience in the financial markets.