MADRID: European Investment Bank (EIB), was appointed Spain’s new economy minister Wednesday, the government announced, replacing Luis de Guindos who is heading to the European Central Bank.
Escolano, an economist born in 1965 who has experience both in the private and public financial sectors, will take up a key posting in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who regularly vaunts Spain’s strong growth after years of crisis.
Since 2014, Escolano has been vice-president of the EIB, the European Union’s nonprofit lending institution.
Before that, he headed up Spain’s state-run Official Credit Institute, a public bank that invests in sectors that are key to the national economy.
A former economic advisor to then prime minister Jose Maria Aznar, he has also worked in the private sector as director of institutional relations at BBVA bank.
Escolano’s predecessor Luis de Guindos served as economy minister since Rajoy’s conservative government came to power in 2011.
