Q: You took on the role as central bank governor at a very difficult time, in 2008, just before the financial crisis hit Paraguay, and took some tough measures to tackle it, such as reducing interest rates from 16% to less than 3%. What was the market's reaction?
A: I think our monetary policy was very successful. When I became central bank governor, the rest of the world had interest rates close to 0%. If we hadn't reduced ours, we would have run the risk of a disproportionate exchange rate appreciation, which would have affected our exports. Paraguay relies on agriculture and is very sensitive to international prices.