Interview with Marta Wilson González of the Central Bank of Cuba

Last year in Havana, I had the honor and privilege of interviewing six incredible women. These women are brilliant, educated, and at the height of their careers. The common denominator among these women is an overwhelming enthusiasm and belief in the projects they manage in an extremely challenging environment.

Marta Wilson González, the former Minister-President of the Central Bank of Cuba is one of those remarkable women. The interview took place in a meeting room at the head office of the Central Bank in Old Havana in June 2022.

What follows is an excerpt of the interview. The complete conversation will appear in the book, “The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development.”

Ms. Wilson has had a distinguished career in banking beginning in 1988 at the National Bank of Cuba (the former name of the entity until 1997). She worked in various positions within foreign exchange, balance of payments operations, macroeconomics, and risk analysis departments.

Between 2007 and 2012, Ms. Wilson was the Commercial Director at Banco Exterior de Cuba. In 2012, she became Chief Executive Officer at Banco de Exportación y Comercio in Venezuela.

She returned to Banco Exterior in 2018 as Vice President and was then promoted in the same year to President.

The former minister holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s in Finance from the University of Havana. In addition, she holds graduate diplomas in Banking and Markets, Financial Engineering, Corporate Financial Management, Business Management, Specialization in Central Banking, Commercial Banking Instruments and Mechanisms from the University.

On December 21, 2019, Ms. Wilson was appointed as a member of the Council of Ministers. On that same date, President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez nominated Ms. Wilson as Minister-President of the Central Bank.

The position of Minister-President of the Central Bank lasts for a duration of three years. On February 15, Joaquín Alonso Vázquez was designated as the new Minister-President of the Bank.