Governor Héctor Valdez Albizu

Héctor Valdez Albizu, Santo Domingo, 1947. Governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic and President of the Monetary Board of the Dominican Republic from 1994-2000 and 2004 to date. Economist from the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. He studied at the Institute of Social Studies of the Catholic University of Chile and the Institute of Specialized Studies of the International Monetary Fund. He has carried out several research works, among which stand out: “Study on the parallel foreign exchange market”, “Investment alternatives in financial activities”, “Importance of the financial market on the exchange system”, “Financial programs for the Dominican Republic” l976-l990; “Size and magnitude of the national banking system and possibilities for its expansion” l976; “Exchange emergency regime”, l985; “Reform of the financial system, a proposal” l985. His lectures and speeches have been gathered in the work “Un camino hacia el desarrollo, tomos I, II y III”, 1996, 2000 and 2018, respectively.

He has received several awards, among them, Medal of Merit for Public Servants, Dominican Republic, 1996; Gaucho Rioplatense, Dirigencia Magazine, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996; Economist of the Year 1997, Dominican Association of Economists of the Dominican Republic (CODECO); Banker of the Year 1998, Listín Diario Newspaper; 500 Personalities of the Financial World, Who’s Who’s Encyclopedia, United States of America, 1999; Governor of the Year 2006 for the Americas region by The Banker magazine; decorated by the Dominican government with the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, in the grade of Officer, 2012; “Global Finance Central Banker Report Card Grade A”, by Global Finance magazine and “Governor of the Year for the Caribbean region”, awarded by Global Markets magazine”, both in 2017; decorated with the Order Bernardo O’Higgins in official grade by the government of Chile, in 2019; and recognized for his contributions to the economy by the Congress of the Dominican Republic, 2021.

He has been president of the Central American Monetary Council (CMCA), 2011; and member of the Board of Governors of the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies (CEMLA).

He is married to economist Fior Martínez de Valdez, with whom he has a son, Héctor Manuel.