Peru’s Castillo names Francke as finance minister after delay

Bloomberg

Peru President Pedro Castillo named former World Bank economist Pedro Francke as his finance minister and swore him in following a delay that unnerved investors.
Francke advised Castillo on economic policy during the campaign and vowed to largely maintain the country’s macro-economic policies while putting more focus on social issues. He’ll be tasked with trying to maintain investor confidence amid doubts over policy direction under Castillo and his Marxist Peru Libre party while trying to revive an economy battered by recession and one of the worst Covid-19 death rates in the world.
The sol fell to a record low and bond yields rose to the highest in seven weeks after Castillo failed to name a finance minister during a ceremony to name his cabinet.
While Francke hasn’t made any public comments since then, Castillo’s controversial pick for prime minister, Guido Bellido, who is seen as an extreme left member of the alliance, expressed his support for Francke on social media.
Castillo, a former schoolteacher and union leader, emerged out of relative obscurity this year to win the presidency after consolidating support from Peru’s left-wing.