The new Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, is a complete stranger to the vast majority of Spanish citizens, but not to the President of the Central Government, nor to the international economic institutions with which from now he will have to fight on a daily basis.
Until now the general secretary of the Treasury and Nadia Calviño’s right-hand man in the Ministry of Economy could afford the luxury of walking with his family through the streets of Madrid without attracting attention with the same naturalness with which he sat at the table of the group of wise men who advised the president of the Spanish Government during the covid pandemic or with whom he walks the carpets of Brussels replacing his head, Nadia Calviño, at meetings of European ministers, the G-20 or the ‘IMF.
But getting used to opening newscasts and having an escort will not be the hardest change that Cuerpo will have to take on in his new position.
Until now, he has developed his professional career as a Technician of the State Higher School of Commerce and Economists, which he entered through opposition in 2008, tied to data. He swims like a fish in water through the complicated Excel sheets of public accounts. Now, in addition to defending the orthodoxy of Excel, he will have to develop the political profile that is expected of a holder of the Ministry of Economy.
He does not lack a left hand to reject the ball, according to colleagues and teammates with whom he shares a passion for padel.
In his presentation, Pedro Sánchez highlighted yesterday his “solvency, honesty and proven competence as a public servant in the administration”. He is from Badajoz, he is 43 years old and graduated from the University of Extremadura in Economics in 2003. He has a doctorate in Economics from the UAM and has a Masters in Economic Analysis from the London School of Economics,
In the last legislature, he was in charge of managing public debt policy as Secretary of State for the Treasury. Her high capacity for work has helped her to keep up with the intense pace that her predecessor prints on a day-to-day basis. She won the trust of the former president of the BEI since she joined her team in 2020 as director general of Macroeconomic Analysis of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
He arrived with the lesson of public data very well learned. Between 2014 and 2020 he had been one of those responsible for examining public accounts at the Independent Fiscal Responsibility Authority (Airef) which he joined at the dawn of the institution in the service of whom he will now be his colleague at the table of the Council of Ministers, José Luis Escrivá. First as deputy director general of Public Debt and after two years Escrivá promoted him to director of the Economic Analysis Division.
Carlos Cuerpo came to Airef from Brussels, where he worked as a national expert, carrying out responsibilities related to the new Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure.
In the personal sphere, Cuerpo is a tireless worker with a great ability to manage teams and negotiate difficult issues thanks to his affable character. Both Nadia Calviño and the President of the Central Government used the same word yesterday to define him: “honesty”. His boss until now, the same one who proposed him for the position, highlighted his “strength and commitment” to carry out the function that he has to assume as of yesterday.
In case he had any doubts, Pedro Sánchez reminded him that the bar is very high, but he also conveyed his confidence that he will be able to give “continuity” to Calviño’s work. Because this is what is expected of him, to lead the Spanish economy on the path left by his predecessor and to meet the new fiscal adjustment criteria that Europe has imposed from 2024. Carlos Cuerpo is he committed yesterday in front of the king to do it with “dialogue and consensus”.
