Paraguay’s central bank will be run by Jorge Schreiner. The Senate approved his appointment Monday, November 9, 2026, as well as Fernando Rivarola’s entry into the Executive Board. The latter had alerted the operations of Ueno Bank, whose crisis upset Paraguayan institutions.
New President for Paraguay Central Bank
The upper house gave its constitutional consent at an extraordinary meeting devoted to the two candidatures proposed by President Pedro Alliana. According to its communiqué, the decision must be forwarded to the executive branch.
Schreiner obtained 31 votes in favour, one against and one abstention from the 33 senators present. Rivarola received the 33 votes. Approval of both appointments therefore does not mean that both votes were unanimous.
The renewal took place when the Executive Board had only three members in office. It aims to restore complete management after the departures caused by the banking crisis.
Schreiner has already served on the PCO Executive Board and chaired the National Values Commission. He teaches money economy at the National University of Asunción and runs Comtel. President Alliana presented his experience as a way to restore confidence in the institution.
Rivarola, from the bank alert to the Executive Board
Former head of supervision at the Superintendence of Banks, Fernando Rivarola had written a report on Ueno’s operations in July. The paper, released in autumn, became a central element of the debate on bank oversight failures.
His arrival at the Executive Board thus places in the conduct of the institution a responsible person associated with the first alerts. In front of the senators, he undertook to quickly seek a solution for the affected depositors and an orderly exit from the Ueno crisis, says the official record.
Appointment alone does not address the issue of funds that are still unavailable. The vote concerns PCO officials, not a new schedule for returning deposits.
Supervision and independence at the heart of the hearing
Schreiner felt before the parliamentarians that the authorities had reacted too late. He criticized the central bank’s inability to resist political power and acknowledged that restoring its credibility would take time.
This change of direction follows the dismissal of Santiago Peña, pronounced on 6 November by the Senate in a political trial procedure. Pedro Alliana succeeded him. The renewal of the monetary authorities is a separate part of the legal proceedings initiated around Ueno.
Senators called for a review of control methods, better handling of technical alerts and faster response to irregularities. The protection of applicants and financial stability dominated the exchanges with both applicants.
Photo of illustration: headquarters of the Central Bank of Paraguay in Asunción, archive of 2010. Photo Felipe Méndez (FF MM), via Wikimedia Commons, underCC BY-SA 3.0. Integer photo preserved and resized proportionally; Libnanews dressing under the same license.Original photo and credits.
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