Pérsio Arida

{{short description|Brazilian economist}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Pérsio Arida

| image = Persio Arida.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = Arida at the Brazil's China Connection by Financial Times, in New York, October 2011

| office1 = Chair of the Central Bank

| term_start1 = 11 January 1995

| term_end1 = 13 June 1995

| president1 = Fernando Henrique Cardoso

| predecessor1 = Pedro Malan

| successor1 = Gustavo Loyola

| office2 = Chair of the Brazilian Development Bank

| term_start2 = 3 September 1993

| term_end2 = 31 December 1994

| president2 = Itamar Franco

| predecessor2 = Luis Carlos Delben Leite

| successor2 = Edmar Bacha

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|03|1|df=y}}

| birth_place = São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

| spouse = Elena Landau

| children = 2

| father = Riad Arida

| mother = Alice Farah

| alma_mater = University of São Paulo
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

}}

Pérsio Arida (born 1 March 1952 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian economist and a former president of the Central Bank of Brazil.

He has a bachelor's degree in economics from University of São Paulo and a Ph.D. in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He has served the Brazilian government by taking part in the crafting of the Plano Real; more specifically, he was one of the creators of the Unidade Real de Valor, a non-monetary currency and the most sophisticated and theoretical piece of the Plano Real. In 1995, he served as the president of the Central Bank of Brazil and Special Secretary of Social-Economic Coordination, Ministry of Planning. In the private sector, he was a board member of Banco Itaú Holding Financeira S.A. and Banco Itaú S.A., board member of Sul-América S.A, director of Opportunity Asset Management Ltda., board member of Unibanco S.A. and special adviser for the presidency and director of Brasil Warrant Ltd. Since the 1970s, he has also worked as an economic and financial consultant.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/24/business/a-day-in-the-decline-of-the-dollar-rio-de-janeiro-the-central-banker.html |title=A DAY IN THE DECLINE OF THE DOLLAR: RIO DE JANEIRO; The Central Banker - New York Times |work=The New York Times |date=1995-04-24 |accessdate=2011-01-12}}

{{As of|2008}}, he is working as a member of the executive council of the Moreira Salles Institute.{{cite web|url=http://www.economistadoano.org.br/2008/galeria/2003-econ.html |title=Economista do Ano 2008 |publisher=Economistadoano.org.br |date= |accessdate=2011-01-12|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706160953/http://www.economistadoano.org.br/2008/galeria/2003-econ.html|archivedate=2011-07-06}}

He is also a member of the International Advisory Board at the Blavatnik School of Government (University of Oxford){{Cite web|title = Persio Arida {{!}} Blavatnik School of Government|url = http://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/persio-arida|website = www.bsg.ox.ac.uk|accessdate = 2015-12-22}} and a member of the Academic Board of [https://www.eusoulivres.org/noticias/conselho-academico-e-marco-para-nova-fase-do-livres/ Livres].

Personally, he is also a fan of classical music.