TIRANA, Feb. 26 – Mario Blejer, a former governor of Argentina’s central bank who was rumored as a potential candidate for the Bank of Albania governor post, will be the key adviser to newly elected Albanian central bank governor Gent Sejko. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Edi Rama, who initially was in favour of a foreign governor after the Euro 5 million theft scandal in the country’s central bank which led to the arrest of former governor Ardian Fullani and several senior officials.
In a post on social networks, Prime Minister Rama announced on Thursday “Mario Blejer, the renowned economist who worked as monetary policy director in the Bank of England will be the advisor to our governor.”
Blejer, 67, was Argentina’s central bank governor from January 2002 to June 2002 and previously served as a deputy governor. He worked as a senior adviser at the International Monetary Fund (1980-2001) and Walter Rathenau professor of economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1996-1999).
In 2012, he was appointed as the new director of the Center for Central Banking Studies (CCBS) at the Bank of England and also served as an adviser to the governor.
His appointment in Albania came after Gent Sejko was consensually voted as the new governor of the country’s central bank in early February 2015, replacing Ardian Fullani who was sacked last September after a Euro 5 million theft scandal.
Sejko, 45, a banker with 20 years of experience in the country’s banking system, recently served as the deputy director of the Albanian subsidiary of France’s Societe Generale.
