Cristián Bahamonde Klein assumes the General Directorate of the Pledge Credit until 2029

The President of the Republic, José Antonio Kast Rist, appointed Cristián Bahamonde Klein as Director General of the General Directorate of Pledge Credit for the 2026-2029 period, through decree No. 90 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The appointment is effective from September 1, 2026, until September 1, 2029, and was published in the Official Gazette No. 44,583 on Monday, October 26, 2026, Section I, General Norms (CVE 2889543).

The decree, signed in Santiago on September 3, 2026, and endorsed by the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Tomás Rau Binder, and transcribed by the Undersecretary of Labor, Gustavo Rosende Salazar, appoints Bahamonde Klein —national identity card No. 13,824,168-8— to the position of First Hierarchical Level, grade 3° of the EUS, of the institution’s staff, as a permanent appointee. The text invokes article 32 No. 10 of the Political Constitution, Title VI of Law No. 19,882, decree with force of law No. 16 of 1986 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, and supreme decree No. 1,051 of 2007 of the Ministry of Finance, which sets the percentage of the public senior management allowance for the position.

The vacancy occurred due to the non-voluntary resignation of Cristóbal Sepúlveda Miranda, accepted through decree No. 5 of 2026 of the same ministry. On that basis, the Public Senior Management Council, through the National Civil Service Directorate, called for ADP Competition No. 36569 via exempt resolution No. PIN-RE-00300-2026, dated April 26, 2026.

The competition and the presidential selection

The decree details the complete sequence of the selection process:

• List of proposed candidates sent to the Presidency of the Republic by reserved official letter No. PIN-ORST-00022-2026, dated July 20, 2026.
• Selection of Bahamonde Klein communicated by Presidential Cabinet official letter No. 1150, dated August 6, 2026.
• Appointment as permanent appointee, with assumption of duties from September 1, 2026, “for urgent reasons of good service,” without waiting for the full processing of the decree.
• Three-year period in accordance with the second paragraph of article fifty-seventh of Law No. 19,882, without prejudice to its eventual renewal or termination.

A credit service for lower-income sectors

The decree describes the General Directorate of Pledge Credit as an autonomous state institution, with public law legal personality and its own assets, which relates to the Executive through the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. Its powers are framed within the development of credit in the sectors with the fewest resources, through the granting of cash loans with civil or industrial pledge guarantees.

Pursuant to Article 7 of Decree with Force of Law No. 16, the institution is headed by an official with the title of Director General, who is the Superior Head of the Service. The appointment was made in accordance with Article 20 of that same regulation.

Remuneration and financing

The new head shall be entitled to 60% of the senior public management allowance. The expenditure required by the decree is charged to subtitle 21, item 01, allocation 001, of the current budget of the General Directorate of Pledge Credit, within the framework of Law No. 21,796 on Public Sector Budgets for the year 2026.

The publication of Decree No. 90 closes a selection process of nearly six months and provides institutional certainty to a service that directly serves lower-income households through pledge-guaranteed loans. The appointment for a fixed term of three years, characteristic of the Senior Public Management System, provides stability to the superior leadership of the service and allows for the projection of its management beyond the annual budget cycle.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of Chile, No. 44,583, Monday, October 26, 2026, Section I, General Norms, pp. 1-2 (official reference: CVE 2889543).