Peru Brings Back Old FinMin

Peru’s finance minister Luis Valdivieso has resigned, according to Peruvian media and wire reports, with former finance minister Jose Luis Carranza sworn in late Monday as his replacement. No reasons for the departure had been immediately reported, and finance ministry officials were not immediately available for comment. Valdivieso, a former IMF economist, held the post since July, replacing Carranza, who resigned after 2 years for personal reasons. Carranza’s first go-around as finance minister was marked by a breakthrough $1.5bn 6.9% 30-year PES-denominated global bond in July 2007 and Peru’s first promotion to investment grade, from Fitch in April 2008. Valdivieso had been talking up a possible dollar-denominated bond issue in recent weeks, following meetings with international investors in December and January. Both Fitch and S&P have Peru at BBB minus, with Moody’s one notch below.