Carrasquilla sacked from Central Bank board

COLOMBIA - In Brief 25 Nov 2022 by Andrés Escobar Arango

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Section 5 of the State Council (one of Colombia's three high courts) declared void the appointment of Alberto Carrasquilla as board member of the Central Bank. According to the statement published to announce the decision, the appointment of Mr. Carrasquilla did not observe the share of women required by law (30%) in the highest echelons of public administration. Only one woman, Bibiana Taboada, currently serves as member of the Board.Mr. Carrasquilla will be able to attend today's Board meeting, but his replacement will be swiftly appointed by President Petro.All sorts of lists of possible women candidates have started circulating. Minister Ocampo will, of course, have an important saying on who is finally appointed. Among the names circulating, we see some as strong candidates: - Carolina Soto, which has already served in the Board of Banco de la República- Astrid Martínez, a left-leaning economist with an extensive trajectory in both academia and the public sector- Olga Lucía Acosta, with similar credentials to Ms. Martínez- Juanita Vallejo, current dean of the economics department at Universidad Nacional; also left-leaning, but also highly regarded in academic circles Any of these names would be welcome. If another woman is appointed, let us hope she has similar credentials. The appointment of Mr. Carrasquilla's replacement does not change the fact that President Petro will get to appoint two more CB Board members in 2025.