Mário José Gomes de Freitas Centeno is Portugal’s Minister of Finance. He was elected President of the Eurogroup in December 2017 by fellow euro area finance ministers, and also serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of the European Stability Mechanism.
Mr. Centeno is an experienced economist professor who only began his political career in 2015. Before that he held several positions in Portugal’s Central Bank, which he joined as an economist in 2000. He holds a PhD in economics from Harvard University and two master’s degrees—one in applied mathematics from ISEG, University of Lisbon and another in economics from Harvard University.
Mr. Centeno hails from Olhao in the Algarve region of Portugal and currently lives in Lisbon with his wife and three children.