Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernandez unveiled his cabinet and new central bank chief on Friday evening, laying out his core team days before the center-left leader takes office facing a stalled economy, rising debt fears and painful inflation, Trend reports citing Reuters.
Fernandez named Martin Guzman, 37, as economy minister, who will need to help steer debt restructuring negotiations with international creditors and the International Monetary Fund over around $100 billion in sovereign debt.
Economist Miguel Angel Pesce was named central bank chief. A low profile economist, he has criticized the orthodox approach of the central bank under conservative President Mauricio Macri, who hands over power to Fernandez on Tuesday.
Guzman, a young academic and protégé of Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, is a debt restructuring expert, though has little hands-on experience in policy making.
Matias Kulfas, who previously held government and central bank positions, was named as the powerful production minister. Young political scientist Santiago Cafiero, heir to a historic Peronist family, was named cabinet chief, with former Buenos Aires governor Felipe Sola tapped as foreign minister.
Guillermo Nielsen, a key economic adviser to Fernandez throughout, will be tasked with leading state oil firm YPF, including in its important ties with multinational companies developing the country’s vast Vaca Muerta shale play.
Vice President-elect Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, a divisive former president with huge political influence in the country, was notably not present at the event where Fernandez announced his cabinet picks.