The deadline for member states to submit their candidates for the vice-presidency of the European Central Bank ends this Friday — a post that will become vacant at the end of May when the Spaniard Luis de Guindos leaves at the end of his term. Mário Centeno will be Portugal's official candidate, as ECO reported on Thursday, but not ...
Centeno's five opponents in the race for vice-president of the European Central Bank
Friday, 9 January 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
- 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.
