Guido Mantega (ˈɡidu ˈmɐ̃teɡɐ; born April 7, 1949 in Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

) is a Brazilian economist

Economist

An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...

, politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and currently Brazil's

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

 Finance Minister

Ministry of Finance (Brazil)

The Ministry of Finance of Brazil was created in 1808 with the title Secretaria de Estado dos Negócios do Brazil e da Fazenda. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing the country's economic policy.-External links:*...

.
He graduated in Economics

Economics

Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 from the Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade of the University of São Paulo

University of São Paulo

Universidade de São Paulo is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian university and one of the country's most prestigious...

 and is a professor of Economics at several leading universities of São Paulo.

He has long been associated with the left wing Workers' Party

Workers' Party

Workers' Party is a name used by a number of political parties throughout the world. While the name has been used by both left-wing and right-wing organizations, it is currently used by left-wing followers of Communism, Maoism, Marxism, Marxism-Leninism, Social Democracy, Socialism and...

 and was a key member in the successful presidential campaign of the party's founder and leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...

. Upon Lula's access to power in 2003, Mantega was appointed Minister of Planning, and later chairman to BNDES

BNDES

The Brazilian Development Bank is a federal public company associated with the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. Its goal is to provide long-term financing for endeavors that contribute to the country's development...

 (National Bank for Economical and Social Development).

On March 27, 2006 he was named Brazil's Finance Minister, replacing Antonio Palocci

Antonio Palocci

Antonio Palocci Filho is a Brazilian physician and politician, and former Chief of Staff of Brazil under President Dilma Rousseff . He was the Finance minister of the Brazilian federal government from January 1, 2003 until March 27, 2006 , during the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva...

, who resigned in the wake of corruption

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

charges.