José Roberto Afonso is an economist, accountant and consultant with extensive experience in the areas of Income and Taxation, having worked, mainly, on the following topics: tax collection, tax reform, fiscal responsibility, public deficit and macroeconomic policy.

Expert in public finance and federalism, including international organizations, José Roberto holds a post doctorate in Public Administration from the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas da Universidade de Lisboa (2020), a doctorate in Economic Development from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (2010), a master's degree in Economics of Industry and Technology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1984) and a bachelor's degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Santos (1982).

He was superintendent of the Banco de Desenvolvimento Econômico Social and special technical advisor to the Federal Senate, House of Representatives and National Constituent Assembly, as well as researcher at the Brazilian Institute of Economics of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas - IBRE/FGV.

A native of Santos, in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, he lives in Lisbon, Portugal, where he serves as vice-president of the Brazil-Europe Integration Forum - FIBE, a non-profit organization that works to bring together Portuguese and Brazilian institutions, as well as those from other Portuguese-speaking countries. He is also a member of the BNDES's Strategic Studies Committee.

He is a member of the BNDES strategic affairs committee and is also a researcher at the Public Administration Centre (CAPP) of the University of Lisbon, as well as a professor of the PhD course in Law at the Brazilian Instituto Brasileiro de Ensino, Desenvolvimento e Pesquisa (IDP); an adviser to the Independent Fiscal Institution - IFI, of the Federal Senate, and founder of the consultancies FINANCE and A&B.