Short answers, pulled from the story.
Vítor Constâncio is a Portuguese economist born on the 12th of October 1943, best known for serving as Vice-President of the European Central Bank from 2010 to 2018. He also served as Portugal's youngest Finance Minister since the Carnation Revolution and as Governor of the Banco de Portugal during two separate terms.
Constâncio served as Vice-President of the European Central Bank from 2010 to 2018, holding an eight-year mandate. He was chosen by Eurozone finance ministers ahead of Peter Praet and Yves Mersch, and developed a reputation as an inflation dove who emphasised the need for economic growth. He was succeeded by Luis de Guindos in June 2018.
The Carnation Revolution of 1974 brought Constâncio directly into government, where he served as Secretary of State for Planning in two provisional governments. He went on to become Secretary of State for Budget and Planning in 1976 and then Minister of Finance from January to August 1978, making him the youngest Portuguese Finance Minister since the revolution.
Two Portuguese banks, Banco Português de Negócios and Banco Privado Português, accumulated losses for years due to bad investments, embezzlement, and accounting fraud. The Banco de Portugal under Constâncio's leadership was criticised for allowing this situation to persist. In 2005, he also revised the budget deficit figure of the previous government from around 3 percent to 6.8 percent.
Constâncio served as secretary-general of the Socialist Party from 1986 to 1989. He won the 1986 leadership election with 79 percent of the vote against Jaime Gama. He led the party in the legislative election of the 19th of July 1987, which the PSD won decisively, and resigned the following year, replaced by Jorge Sampaio.
After his ECB term ended in June 2018, Constâncio became a professor at the School of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Navarra. He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Economic and Policy Research from 2019 and remains a member of the Advisory Board of the Banco de Portugal.