A former minister of finance in the Dominican Republic, Donald Guerrero served his government from 2016 to 2020, during which time he earned accolades from multiple publications for his work toward stabilizing the island nation’s economy, reducing poverty, and promoting economic growth. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a negative impact on the global economy, the Dominican Republic exceeded all other Caribbean, Central America, and Latin American nations in economic growth. The country achieved a region-leading 5 percent gross growth in 2019, Donald Guerrero’s second-to-last year as minister of finance.
Mr. Guerrero was also deeply committed to transparency in government spending. During his tenure as minister of finance, the Dominican Republic government implemented the purchase law, which dictates that all state purchases of goods and services must be published online for all to see. Several international agencies hailed this transparent process. He also implemented measures to fight against tax evasion; in 2018, the Dominican Republic joined the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS), a project of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In addition, Mr. Guerrero’s finance ministry worked to improve collaboration between the country’s two collecting agencies: customs and internal revenue.
Within just one year of his tenure as minister of finance, Donald Guerrero helped grow the Dominican Republic’s gross domestic product (GDP) by 4 percent with substantial growth in public investment and revenues. This economic growth contributed to a 12 percent reduction of poverty, according to the World Bank. As a result, the country was able to further improve its burgeoning education system, increase the percentage of children who attend school full-time, and boost teacher salaries by roughly 60 percent.
Donald Guerrero was named to AméricaEconomía‘s “2016 Ranking: The Best Finance Ministers of Latin America” and was selected by The Banker, an English-language publication, as the 2018 Minister of Finance of the Year for the Americas. He was succeeded as minister of finance in the Dominican Republic by José Manuel Vicente Dubocq in 2020.
In addition to his work in government, Mr. Guerrero is an entrepreneur with extensive leadership experience in business and the finance industry. He is the founder and CEO of Axis Holding, LLC, a Puerto Rico-based group of automobile dealerships, including Autocentro Chrysler and Autocentro Nissan. Axis Holding’s companies sold more than 10,000 vehicles combined in 2019. Donald Guerrero has led the company for more than 25 years, while also holding executive roles with financial institutions such as Chase Manhattan Bank, Banco Intercontinental, Listín Diario, and Reid & Pellerano. He was vice president of corporate banking and second vice president of institutional banking at Chase Manhattan.
Donald Guerrero is also an experienced university professor who has taught business economics, microeconomics, business strategy, and corporate finance at various post-secondary institutions, including the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU), Santo Domingo Institute of Technology (INTEC), and the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra. An alumnus of INTEC, Donald Guerrero received a bachelor of science in economics and completed postgraduate studies in business administration at the Santo Domingo-based university. He also holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Maryland.