Guatemala Central Bank Names 5 New Top Managers
Guatemala's Monetary Board named five top central bank managers on 7 October, a week after former finance minister Jonathan Menkos took charge. The post Guatemala Central Bank Names 5 New Top Managers appeared first on The Rio Times .
A week into Jonathan Menkos’s term, Guatemala’s central bank has a new management team, while a court still weighs his own appointment.
The Guatemala central bank has replaced its senior management, a week after a former finance minister took charge. The change matters to US investors and to families sending dollars home, because the bank sets interest rates and steers the quetzal.
The Monetary Board, which runs the Bank of Guatemala (Banguat), accepted four resignations and filled five top posts on Wednesday, 7 October. Prensa Libre, a leading Guatemalan daily, called it the first complete turnover of the bank’s management team.
The bank’s choices matter for a country with large dollar inflows. Remittances, mainly from Guatemalans in the United States, reached US$20.0 billion from January to September, Banguat data show.
The board accepted these resignations, according to its statement dated 7 October:
All four career staff hold graduate degrees from US universities: Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Claremont and the University of Illinois. Paiz Sandoval took a US government course on fighting corruption and money laundering, the statement says.
The board said the moves aim to strengthen technical excellence, administration and the civil service.
The bank told journalists some departing managers retired after over 35 years, Prensa Libre reported. The statement itself gives no reasons.
Menkos, an economist, took office on Thursday, 1 October, for a term running to 30 September 2030. He replaced Álvaro González Ricci, who still led the bank’s 23 September press conference as president.
His official Banguat CV says he was minister of public finance from 2024 to 2026, with a seat on the Monetary Board. He worked at the bank from 2000 to 2006, then spent 16 years at a regional fiscal think tank.
President Bernardo Arévalo, in office since January 2024, appointed him. Three legal challenges object mainly that he kept his seat in Congress on leave.
The dispute is explained in Guatemala Central Bank Chief Faces Court Deadline .
On Tuesday, 6 October, Menkos told a congressional committee that stability is the base for faster growth, La Hora reported. He forecast growth of 4.3% in 2026 and at least 4% in 2027.
He called the 2027 budget’s planned deficit of 4.4% of GDP manageable, because much of it funds investment. Guatemala should then return gradually to a deficit near 2%, he said.
He expects oil near US$83 a barrel at the end of 2026, easing to US$71 during 2027. That outlook assumes calmer conflict in the Middle East and lower freight costs.
Business leaders remain wary. Carlos Arias Bouscayrol, head of the CACIF business federation, said decisions taken during the dispute could later be challenged.
The new team inherits rising prices. Annual inflation reached 4.69% in September, from 3.37% in August, as reported in Guatemala Inflation Hits 4.69% in September .
That is inside the bank’s target of 4%, plus or minus one point, but above its midpoint. The board held its policy rate at 3.50% on 23 September, citing upside risks from fuel prices and El Niño.
The quetzal stood at 7.642 per US dollar on Banguat’s reference rate for Thursday, 8 October. It has barely moved this month, from 7.640 on 1 October.
For people sending money from the United States, nothing changes for now: no policy shift was announced. Remittance growth has slowed to 5.5% this year, from 19.8% a year earlier.
A 1% US tax on remittances paid in cash has applied since 1 January. September inflows were US$2.24 billion, up 6.4% on September 2025.
For investors, the question is central bank independence while the court case runs. Four of the five appointees are long-serving Banguat staff rather than outsiders.
The board did not give reasons for each resignation or say when they were submitted. It also did not say who held the legal post before Paiz Sandoval.
It is unclear when the Constitutional Court will rule, or what a ruling would mean for decisions already taken. La Hora reported the court could take up the challenges on Thursday, 8 October.
The court must first decide whether to suspend the appointment provisionally while it studies the case. The board’s next scheduled rate decision is on Wednesday, 25 November.
The reshuffle does not change the 3.50% policy rate or the bank’s 4% inflation target. Congress, meanwhile, is debating the 2027 budget that Menkos defended.
Eddy Roberto Carpio Sam, an economist with more than 26 years at the bank. He was a counsellor at the Inter-American Development Bank from July 2023 to June 2026.
The Monetary Board said it wants to strengthen technical excellence, administration and the civil service. It gave no individual reasons, though the bank told reporters some managers retired.
Yes. His official central bank CV says he was minister of public finance from 2024 to 2026.
No direct change was announced. The quetzal stood at 7.642 per US dollar on the central bank’s reference rate for 8 October.
Sources: Banco de Guatemala, Monetary Board statement of 7 October 2026 ; Banco de Guatemala, CV of Jonathan Menkos ; Banco de Guatemala, remittance statistics ; Banco de Guatemala, consumer price index ; Banco de Guatemala, rate decision of 23 September 2026 ; La Hora ; La Hora ; Prensa Libre ; Prensa Libre (all accessed 8 October 2026).
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind , Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
