Menem Picks Aide to Fight Argentine Inflation

President Carlos Saul Menem on Friday put a trusted aide at the helm of Argentina’s troubled economy in place of a party outsider who had failed to break inflation.

Health and Social Welfare Minister Antonio Erman Gonzalez was named economy minister after businessman Nestor Rapanelli resigned the post.

Rapanelli, 60, who was sworn in five months ago to tackle Argentina’s worst economic crisis, had been criticized for his business background by the union-based governing Peronist Party.

Gonzalez, a longtime confidant of Menem, is held in esteem by rank-and-file Peronists, and his appointment is an apparent move to defuse political opposition to Menem’s economic program.

Rapanelli resigned four days after announcing new anti-inflation measures which drew strong criticism from business and labor leaders.

The austral currency plummeted 28.3% against the dollar after it was devalued by 34.8% Sunday.

Economists estimate that prices will rise by more than 20% in December, much higher than Rapanelli had targeted.

Rapanelli had brought monthly inflation down to 5.6% from a record of nearly 200%, but the trend reversed.

Aldo Ducler, an adviser to Rapanelli, told reporters the Cabinet reshuffle signaled “the Peronization of the economy.”

“The outgoing team’s members were the only ones who stood up for economic stability, while the Peronist party has remained silent these past five months,” he said.

Before becoming health and social welfare minister, Gonzalez was the Argentine Central Bank’s vice president.

Interior Minister Eduardo Bauza was named to replace Gonzalez, and another strong Peronist, Julio Mera Figueroa, is the new interior minister.