Fernando Blanco, is Principal Economist for Europe and Central Asia of the IFC. He joined the World Bank in 2002 and worked until 2010 as Country Economist for Brazil. From 2010 to 2014, Fernando worked in the Africa Region as Senior Economist for Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau and was the Lead Economist for Mexico between 2014 and 2015. Prior to the World Bank, Mr. Blanco worked at the Institute of Applied Economics Research (IPEA), a think-tank of the Brazilian government, and was professor of Public Economics and International Economics at the Brazilian Institute of Capital Markets (IBMEC) and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Fernando holds a PhD in Economics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro.