Álvaro Santos Pereira will be heard in Parliament due to the retirement of his predecessor, Mário Centeno. The hearing was requested by Chega and approved this Wednesday.
Parliament approves hearing for the Governor of the Bank of Portugal regarding Centeno's retirement
Wednesday, 18 March 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
The Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) is Portugal's unicameral parliament, located in the Palácio de São Bento in Lisbon. It consists of 230 deputies elected by proportional representation for four-year terms.
The Assembly's powers include making and amending laws, approving the state budget, ratifying international treaties, and overseeing the government through debates, hearings, and committees. It can also pass votes of no confidence to bring down a government, as happened in March 2025.
Following the May 2025 elections, the current parliamentary composition is led by the Democratic Alliance (AD) with the largest share of seats, followed by Chega, PS, and smaller parties including the Liberal Initiative, Left Bloc, Livre, and PCP.
- Governor of Banco de Portugal (2020–present)
- Former: Minister of Finance (2015–2020), President of the Eurogroup (2018–2020)
- Party: Independent (PS-affiliated)
- Background: Economist (PhD, Harvard)
Mário José Gomes de Freitas Centeno (born 1966) is Portugal's central bank governor and one of the country's most internationally recognized economic figures. As Finance Minister under António Costa's first PS government, he became known as "Cristiano Ronaldo of European finance" for turning Portugal's deficit into a surplus while reversing austerity.
He was elected president of the Eurogroup (the informal body of euro area finance ministers) in 2018 — the first Portuguese to hold the role. Since becoming Governor of Banco de Portugal in 2020, he sits on the ECB's Governing Council and oversees Portuguese banking supervision and financial stability.
