He was nominated by President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa on April 23, 2009, as Deputy Governor and member of the Board of Governors at Banco de México, Mexico's central bank, for a term that ended on December 31, 2016.

Manuel Sánchez holds a master's degree and Ph.D. in economics from The University of Chicago (1983, 1985), where his doctoral thesis adviser was Robert E. Lucas Jr., and his thesis committee was composed of Robert E. Lucas Jr., Arnold Zellner, and Lars Peter Hansen.

While at Chicago, he also studied with Gary S. Becker, Robert W. Fogel, James J. Heckman, Arnold C. Harberger, Sherwin Rosen, Sanford J. Grossman, Jacob A. Frenkel, and Michael L. Mussa.

He was a PEW Teaching Fellow at The University of Chicago (1982–1983) and received the American Agricultural Economics Association Award for Professional Excellence (1980).

Previously, from 1989 to 1993, he headed the Center for Analysis and Economic Research at Mexico's Autonomous Institute of Technology (ITAM).

Between 1985 and 1986, he worked as an assistant professor in the department of economics at Boston College, and between 1984 and 1985, he was a full-time member of department of economics at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León).

He has also taught part-time at the ITAM, the Monterrey campus of the ITESM, and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.

Since 1989, he has been a member of the Technical Advisory Board of the Private Sector Center for Economic Studies (CEESP).

Since 2002 he has been a member of The Mont Pelerin Society, since 2001, of the Alamos Alliance, and since 1998, of the IMEF's National Committee of Economic Studies.

Since 1998, he has written the column “Razones y Proporciones” for the newspaper Reforma, which focuses on current economic, monetary, and financial issues.

Economía Mexicana para Desencantados, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica.

Privatization in Latin America, Washington: Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.

Procesos de Privatización en América Latina, Washington: ITAM-BID.

“Monetary Policy Normalisation in the US, the Limits of Macro-prudential Tools and Developing Capital Markets,” Central Banking, 25(4), May.

– Presentation,” in Central Bank Cooperation at the Beginning of the 21st Century, Mexico: CEMLA.

"Financial Crises: Prevention, Correction, and Monetary Policy," The Cato Journal, Vol.

"Estabilidad Financiera, Crecimiento Económico y Política Monetaria," E-fecto; also published in Contrapunto, Revista Estudiantil del CIDE, year 5, March 2011.

), Unwinding Financial Sector Interventions, Preconditions and Practical Considerations, Washington: International Monetary Fund.

"Estadística de Valores y Creencias Mundiales," Letras Libres, November.

“Two Cheers for Mexico's Tax Reform,” The Wall Street Journal, March 30.