ARGENTINA: Markets upbeat as President Cristina Fernandez swears in new economy minister and cabinet chief

Record ID: 446800

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Markets upbeat as President Cristina Fernandez swears in new economy minister and cabinet chief
  • Date: 7th December 2011
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ECONOMY MINISTRY VARIOUS OF DOLLAR RATES AT MONEY EXCHANGE HOUSES VARIOUS OF STOCK MARKET
  • Embargoed: 22nd December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina, Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVACMKNTO48R7U4XZKHDCBEXEW1Q
  • Story Text: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez picked the country's market-friendly finance secretary as her new economy minister on Tuesday (December 06) in a low-key cabinet reshuffle that augurs few policy changes in her second term.
    The centre-leftist, who will be sworn in on Saturday, won a landslide re-election in October, vowing to maintain the high-growth and unconventional economic policies that many Argentines credit with fostering a long boom.
    New Economy Minster Hernan Lorenzino's appointment came as a pleasant surprise to market players, who tend to be critical of Fernandez's unorthodox mix of policies and had feared a sharper turn to the left.
    The only other new faces in Fernandez's cabinet will be Media Secretary Juan Manuel Abal Medina, who will serve as cabinet chief, and Fishing Undersecretary Norberto Yahuar, who will take over as agriculture minister.
    Mercedes Marco del Pont will stay on as central bank president and Julio De Vido as the powerful planning minister, presidential spokesman Alfredo Scoccimarro told reporters.
    Thirty-nine-year-old Lorenzino will take office as global economic concerns grow and as the foreign reserves available to pay Argentina's debt dwindle. The country's fiscal and current account balances are deteriorating just as the outlook for global trade worsens.
    Lorenzino has served as finance secretary since April 2008 and is an ally of Economy Minister Amado Boudou, who will take office as Fernandez's vice president.
    Argentine bonds traded locally reversed earlier losses on Tuesday to make tepid gains, while the spread between the yield on benchmark Argentine bonds and comparable U.S. Treasuries narrowed 36 basis points to 893, according to the JPMorgan Emerging Markets Bond Index.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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