Argentina energy and production ministers sacked

BUENOS AIRES, June 18, 2018 – President Mauricio Macri over the weekend dismissed Minister of Energy and Mining Juan José Aranguren and Minister of Production Francisco Cabrera, local media reported.

Saturday’s firings follow the replacement of central bank head Federico Sturzenegger with Minister of Finance Luis Caputo last Thursday.

Argentina’s energy minister was replaced by Javier Iguacel, an oil engineer who had previously worked for YPF and Pluspetrol. Dante Sica, an economist with both public and private experience, has been appointed as the new finance minister.

“I make changes when I feel that they are for improvement,” President Macri said in an interview.

According to local experts, the Cabinet shake-up was the result of Argentina’s recent financial woes, in which the country’s currency exchange rate fell dramatically in May and a new USD 50-billion credit line was opened with the IMF earlier in June.

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