The Best Of The Finance Ministers In The World Now

The accolades honour the leaders who have most effectively spurred development and stabilised their countries.

Giovanni Giorgetti, Italy

With a longer-term plan to lower Italy’s soaring debt-to-GDP ratio, Giancarlo Giorgetti, The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year, has garnered praise for his attempts to cut Italy’s mounting deficit and continue public investment.

Serving as Italy’s finance minister is a thankless chore. The several economic woes afflicting the nation are poor development, low productivity, substantial tax evasion, and one of the biggest public debt loads in the world.

Such difficulties help to explain why during the past two decades several Italian administrations have turned to appointing essentially technocratic finance ministers.

One major exception is Giorgetti, scheduled for 2022. Considered a moderate and quite pro-European League party member, he is a seasoned political operator who fits Italy’s right-wing governing coalition.

Although Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s initial pick is not clear-cut, Giorgetti soon became a pragmatic voice in a government that detractors claim is excessively predicated on populist rhetoric and policy. Drawing on his long political experience, his well-known networking abilities become particularly relevant in his capacity as finance minister.

He spent over three decades as a member of parliament, primarily behind the scenes negotiating on behalf of others, including the firebrand League leader Matteo Salvini, before becoming finance minister. He notably headed the lower house budget committee between 2001 and 2013. This has been very helpful for him as he negotiates Italy’s annual budget law and political party policies in parliaments.

Giorgetti set ambitious aims last year to stop Italy’s widening deficit and maintain public investment, then start to lower the country’s enormous debt from 2027. His proposal for an additional tax on banks had to be modified after it resulted in a stock market sell-off; he intends to raise taxes on businesses in areas that are benefiting from favourable economic conditions.

“We will be approving a budget that will require sacrifices from everyone,” Giorgetti stated in an October interview with Bloomberg, with the budget expected to be approved as The Banker went to print.

Extra tax income is probably going to be responsible for most of the fiscal balance improvement. But Giorgetti has also instituted belt-tightening policies by urging the several departments to provide €4 billion in overall savings.

He also supervises the sale of national airline Ita Airways and bailout institution Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Already, state-owned oil major Eni sold a minority share of its biofuels company to private equity investor KKR for somewhat less than €3 billion.

While characterising Italy’s debt repayment strategy as “credible” and “sustainable,” the European Commission has commended his work, finding Italy’s 2025 budget law in compliance with its recommendations and guidelines.

Given that few nations followed the bloc’s policies and pledges, Giorgetti and the Italian government had a major victory when the EU gave Italy the green light. The panel indeed chastised some nations, including Germany and the Netherlands, for overspending.

Rating agency Fitch changed Italy’s projection from stable to positive in October.

Fitch said the shift “reflects that recent stronger fiscal performance and commitment to EU fiscal rules point to a potential reduction in medium-term fiscal and financing risks stemming from Italy’s exceptionally high debt levels.”

Better than projected, revenue collecting this year let the government aim the 2024 deficit at 3.8% of GDP, below April’s projection of 4.3% of GDP. The EU put Italy under an “excessive deficit procedure” after its 2023 deficit came out at 7.2 percent of GDP.

By 2026, the deficit of the nation is expected to be less than the 3 percent limit set by the EU. From 135.8% in 2024 to 137.8% of GDP in 2026, national debt is expected to rise; it then slightly falls in 2027.

From its 2020 top, Italy’s debt has dropped about 20 percentage points of GDP, nonetheless. It is among the few nations in the Eurozone that have brought their debt ratio back to pre-pandemic levels.

Giorgetti cautioned in December that the nation’s industrial sector may suffer a downturn, attributing this to Italy’s rich and more industrialised north’s bad performance of Germany’s economy specifically. This will affect the Italian GDP growth in 2024, which the government in November lowered from 1 percent earlier to 0.7 percent.

Still, Giorgetti has calmed markets and the EU. At a political rally in mid-December, he reportedly claimed that the slower growth “doesn’t change our public finance targets.”

Roman Wadagni, Benin

Together with Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, Benin is one of just four nations in sub-Saharan Africa to have experienced annual real GDP growth of 6% for three consecutive years between 2021 and 2023.

Based on its reputation as the top cotton producer in Africa, the government has lately made large infrastructure investments and instituted policies meant to increase private sector investment, centred around the Glo-Djigbé industrial park, so developing the clothing and food processing sectors.

“The Beninese economy has shown remarkable resilience to shocks, leveraging buffers wisely created pre-pandemic and supported by the government’s continuous reform efforts,” the IMF said in December.

The fund projected that “growth is expected to remain strong in the coming years, supported by the government infrastructure drive and by private investment, including through the [Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone],” noting that the nation remains vulnerable to climate shocks and regional headwinds.

Originally a Deloitte partner, Romauld Wadagni was named Benin’s minister of finance and economy in 2016; President Patrice Talon will be serving in this capacity until 2021. Wadagni, a candidate for May 2025’s African Development Bank presidency, is the winner of this year’s Finance Minister of the Year award for Africa in honour of his continuous economic stewardship and support of President Talon’s initiatives to draw private investment.

Following a run of prosperous Eurobond issuances, Benin debuted its first dollar bond in February, days after Ivory Coast, a West African neighbour, became the first sovereign sub-Saharan African nation to issue a greenback-denominated loan. Benin raised $750 billion in an offering more than six times based on the success of its neighbour. It was oversubscribed.

Following its official request sent in July 2023, Benin became the first sub-Saharan African nation to join the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in April, seeking to gain from the bank’s financing and policy support.

Carlos Fernández Valdovinos, Paraguay

Since August 2023, Carlos Fernández Valdovinos has been Paraguay’s minister of economy and finance. Reflecting “sustained economic growth and a track record of institutional changes,” Moody’s Ratings raised the nation’s credit score to investment grade in July 2024.

For almost twenty years, the nation’s economic growth has been mostly positive. The World Bank claims that from 2003 to 2023, its GDP increased 3.6% yearly on average, faster than many other nations in the Americas, therefore helping to lower poverty.

Said Moody’s in July, Paraguay has “pursued a strategy of economic diversification and public investment in infrastructure, while preserving Paraguay’s fiscal strength.” Though agriculture and hydropower generating still define the nation’s economy, the rating agency also commended its infrastructure and economic diversification efforts.

To try to reduce its reliance on bonds issued in US dollars, the government has been seeking to build the local currency bond market. Paraguay issued its first bond on the international scene with a guaraní-denominated value successfully in February 2024. From 11 percent in July 2023 to 16 percent in April 2024, local currency debt rose as a percentage of overall governmental debt.

Tasked with more solid and independent supervision and regulation of the stock market, the Superintendence of Securities superseded the National Securities Commission in 2023.

While the Paraguayan economy is still facing difficulties due to corruption, some opponents would point out that with the successes of the past years, the government should enhance its anti-corruption system urged by the IMF.

Under former President Horacio Cartes, who was sanctioned in 2023 by the US for alleged corruption, Valdovinos presided over Paraguay’s national bank between 2013 and 2018.

More recently, in October, Paraguay’s congress approved a law requiring all non-profit organisations receiving public or private funds to send financial reports to the ministry of economy and finance every six months, something detractors claim could be used to target rivals of the ruling party.

However, the positive influence of the finance ministry deserves appreciation as Paraguay develops and improves its economic possibilities and foreign image.

Pakistan’s Muhammad Aurangzeb,

When Muhammad Aurangzeb was appointed Pakistan’s finance minister in March 2024, concerns were raised about whether a seasoned banker without a political background would be fit for the position.

But his 25 years of international banking have provided him vital knowledge and insight needed to help Pakistan’s economy be less under pressure.

Arriving in the position, Pakistan had $130 billion in outside debt, around one-third of the nation’s whole GDP, and an inflation rate of more than 20%. Aurangzeb has acted decisively in the months following to strengthen the economy of his nation and raise its future prospects.

To 4.9 percent in November 2024, the lowest level for more than six years, inflation has dropped drastically.

To 13%, the lowest level since April 2022, interest rates were lowered in December 2024 by 200 basis points.

Ensuring the nation was reaching the targets set out by the IMF for obtaining more financial support was a major aim that followed his appointment. With the nation getting a three-year loan facility worth $7 billion, he was successful in this quest. The money will be put towards enhancing economic stability, luring foreign direct investment, and building foreign exchange reserves.

Aurangzeb promised to adopt a tough stance on taxes in order to appease the IMF, with ideas presented in the June budget to raise Rs13tn ($46.6bn) by July 2025, therefore reflecting a 40% increase in revenues in the current financial year. The budget also revealed that steps would be made against income tax avoiders under limitations on mobile phone access and international travel capabilities.

Aurangzeb has set out to boost foreign commercial links in order to help to develop the economy.

In spheres including tourism and oil and gas, he has aimed to strengthen commercial links with nearby Azerbaijan. Additionally mentioned as probable targets for more trade flows are Japan, Qatar, and the US.

Plans to match Islamic finance ideas with the banking system have also been presented; sukuk and other investment tools are meant to support poverty reduction and infrastructure projects around the nation.

Aurangzeb wants Pakistan to become a major player in Islamic finance and has stated his will to build a strong, sharia-compliant financial market in the nation.

Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, United Arab Emirates

Apart from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Middle East’s third-largest oil exporter is the UAE, which has one of the most diverse economies within the area. The IMF projects GDP growth for 2024 at 4% compared to just 2.8% for the Middle East and Central Asia region, driven by strong domestic demand.

Reflecting commodities income, safe haven flows, and investment drawn by social and business-friendly changes, the fund noted in December that “The UAE has continued to experience strong capital inflows.”

Following significant efforts under its strategy to fight money laundering and the funding of terrorism, and a related action plan, the nation also won a notable achievement in February 2024 with its removal from the Financial Action Task Force’s “grey list.”

Assumed as deputy prime minister for financial and economic matters in January 2024, Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Dubai’s deputy ruler, has been the minister of finance for the UAE since 2021. In honour of the audacious decisions taken to keep deepening and diversifying the nation’s economy, not least in the sometimes divisive field of taxation, he is the recipient of The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year award for the Middle East.

With taxable business income above Dh375,000 ($102,110), one of the lowest among Gulf Cooperation Council nations, corporate tax came into force in the UAE (excluding free zones) for companies from June 2023.

In keeping with worldwide standards, January 2025 will see a tax hike to 15% for big multinational companies with consolidated global revenues of €750 million or more.

Aimed at establishing a fair and transparent tax system aligned with global standards, the ministry of finance in December said the move to the 15 percent rate for multinational enterprises “reflects the UAE’s commitment to implementing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s two-pillar solution.”

Among the other projects the ministry started during the year is one aimed at strengthening the local debt capital market of the UAE. With an eye on establishing and improving the yield curve, the project will set programs for issuing local dirham-denominated public debt instruments in cooperation with the Central Bank of the UAE.