Mário Centeno from the Algarve is no longer finance minister. João Leão, former Secretary of State for the Budget, replaces him in the position.
This change has already been made official by the President of the Republic. In a statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that "he received proposals from the prime minister for the resignation, at his request, of the minister of State and Finance, Mário Centeno, and the appointment, in his place, of Professor João Leão."
The President of the Republic accepted the proposals. The departure of Mário Centeno from the Government had already been discussed a few weeks ago, following the controversy with the prime minister, due to the way in which 850 million euros were injected into Novo Banco.
More recently, the appointment of António Costa e Silva, a manager called by António Costa to support the Government in the recovery of the economy due to Covid-19, also it won't have gone well with Centeno.
The Algarve has been appointed as the future governor of Banco de Portugal, as Carlos Costa's term ends in July.
Centeno will also no longer be the leader of the Eurogroup, which brings together the finance ministers of the Eurozone, a position he occupied since 2017.
In addition to Mário Centeno, Ricardo Mourinho Félix, Deputy Secretary of State and Finance, confirmed to RTP3 that he will also leave the Government.
João Leão's inauguration as finance minister will be next Monday, June 15, at 10:00 am.
Professor of Economics at ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute since 2008, João Leão, who is 46 years old, was Secretary of State for Budget between 2015 and 2019, working in the same Ministry as Mário Centeno.
The new minister has a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
He was a member of the Economic and Social Council between 2010 and 2014 and of the High Council for Statistics between 2010 and 2014. He was part of the Portuguese delegation in the Economic Policy Committee of the OECD in 2010 and 2012 and was part of working groups within the scope of the OECD.
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