Economist Adriana Kugler becomes the Fed’s first Latina governor

The US Senate on Thursday approved the appointment of Colombian-American economist Adriana Kugler as governor of the Federal Reserve (Fed), the body that runs the central bank.

Kuglerwhich was proposed last May by President Joe Biden, thus becomes the first Latina to form part of the board leading the US body.

The economist obtained the support of 53 of the 100 senators in the Upper House, which is in the hands of the Democratic Party.

Kugler’s confirmation comes a day after the Senate confirmed Philip Jefferson as the Fed’s second black vice chair and Lisa Cook, the first black woman on the board, to a full 14-year term.

Kugler’s nomination came after years of lobbying by the Democratic senator. Bob Menendez for President Joe Biden to appoint a Hispanic member to the Fed board. The New Jersey Democrat has pointed to the contributions Hispanics have made to the economy and has argued that they deserve a seat at the table where key decisions are made .

“It is time for Latinos to occupy the highest levels of the Federal Reserve. It is time for Latinos to be taken seriously as an essential part of the family and the American economy”, he pointed out in his speech Bob Menendez.

This appointment, added the also president of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “has broken barriers and opened new paths” for “the 62 million Latinos who call the United States their home”.

Kuglerthe progressive senator recalled, is a first-generation American, the daughter of immigrants from Colombia, and her experience is a sample of “how the american dream comes true”.

Until now, Kugler She was the Executive Director of the World Bank Group for the United States. She is an expert in labor markets, international economics and applied econometrics.and has published in the main journals on the subject.

In the nearly 110-year history of the Federal Reserve, he recalled Menendezthere has never been a Latino on its board of governors, something that was “an affront” to the millions of citizens who “contribute significantly” to the US economy.

The Board of Governors of the fed It is made up of seven people and its mandate is 14 years. Every two years a new term begins and a person who covers the entire period cannot repeat the position.

The Fed is chaired by Jerome Powell, who was nominated by Donald Trump (2017-2021) and later confirmed by Biden.

Throughout his career, Kugler was appointed Chief Economist of the Department of Labor under the Administration of Barack Obama (2009-2017), of which Biden He was Vice President, and has also been part of the Board of Science, Technology and Economic Policy of the National Academies of Sciences of the United States.

Kugler will take over the governor’s seat vacated by Lael Brainard, who left the board to become a top adviser to Biden.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumerthanked Menéndez on the Senate floor for defending Kugler and urged promoting “fresh and diverse perspectives to our nation’s central bank.”

Most Republicans backed Jefferson, but most opposed Cook and Kugler. Although the three pledged to focus on reducing inflation during their confirmation hearings, Republicans raised concerns about other issues, including new capital requirements for the largest banks being prepared by Vice President for Supervision Michael Barr.

With information from EFE and Bloomberg