BOGOTA, (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos moved Energy Minister Mauricio Cardenas to head the finance post yesterday in a surprise move for Latin America’s fourth-largest economy.
At the midpoint of his four-year term, Santos asked all 16 ministers to resign, including Finance Minister Juan Carlos Echeverry, and set the stage for a cabinet shuffle aimed at shoring up his slumping approval ratings.
It was not immediately known when Cardenas, 50, who holds a doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley, would take on his new role.
Santos, after naming Cardenas, said he was “designed to be finance minister.” He previously held ministerial posts in economic development and transport.
“Cardenas is an extremely well known and respected economist, with fiscally sound ideas, so from a market perspective this will be well received,” said Alberto Bernal, head of research for Bulltick Capital Markets in Miami.
“What’s more important now for the market is the political makeup for the entire Santos cabinet.”
