CARACAS - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez ended days of speculation on Sunday and named Ali Rodriguez, a trusted ally who has also served as head of state oil company PDVSA, to lead the finance ministry.
Rodriguez, who was a fighter in the Venezuelan guerrilla movement in the 1970s, is currently ambassador to close ally Cuba. He was once secretary general of OPEC and has served as foreign minister.
"Ali Rodriguez is going to be the new finance minister," Chavez said on his weekly television show. "He is a man of great experience and honesty. A card-carrying revolutionary."
Venezuela is struggling with high inflation during an oil boom despite measures to cool the economy. Chavez refuses to cut public spending to fight inflation, and it is unlikely that Rodriguez will change that in an election year.
The policy announcement most keenly awaited by investors is a debt buyback expected to be at least $1.5 billion that firmed Venezuelan debt spreads after officials leaked in May that it was imminent.
At 70 years old, Rodriguez has suffered from poor health. As well as being ambassador to Cuba, he is also a top leader in Chavez's new socialist party, which is preparing for key elections for governors and mayors in November.
Oil expert Rodriguez is widely respected in crude-exporting Venezuela where he is seen as a negotiator. Chavez frequently recycles his cabinet, keeping trusted people close to him during his nine years in office.
Current Minister Rafael Isea was elected last month as Chavez's party's candidate in the state of Aragua for the November elections, where Chavez fears he may lose the capital Caracas and key governrships.
Isea's nomination sparked a period of speculation over who would replace the soft-spoken former soldier who oversaw a period of monetary tightening aimed, without much success, at reining in Latin America's highest inflation.
The outgoing finance minister, who joined the Cabinet only at the start of this year, implemented a policy that slashed the bolivar currency rate on the parallel exchange market and helped cut periodic shortages of some basic foodstuffs.
But the measures also slowed growth to its weakest since 2003 and inflation remains high, an election-year liability.
While investors typically study closely a change of finance minister in emerging markets, economists expect little policy impact from a new minister in Venezuela due to limits on the post's influence.
The president is the major decision-maker, and the planning minister is nominally the Cabinet's head of economic policy and influences strategy. Former economy ministers are believed to still advise Chavez on the portfolio.
Rodriguez, who was a fighter in the Venezuelan guerrilla movement in the 1970s, is currently ambassador to close ally Cuba. He was once secretary general of OPEC and has served as foreign minister.
"Ali Rodriguez is going to be the new finance minister," Chavez said on his weekly television show. "He is a man of great experience and honesty. A card-carrying revolutionary."
Venezuela is struggling with high inflation during an oil boom despite measures to cool the economy. Chavez refuses to cut public spending to fight inflation, and it is unlikely that Rodriguez will change that in an election year.
The policy announcement most keenly awaited by investors is a debt buyback expected to be at least $1.5 billion that firmed Venezuelan debt spreads after officials leaked in May that it was imminent.
At 70 years old, Rodriguez has suffered from poor health. As well as being ambassador to Cuba, he is also a top leader in Chavez's new socialist party, which is preparing for key elections for governors and mayors in November.
Oil expert Rodriguez is widely respected in crude-exporting Venezuela where he is seen as a negotiator. Chavez frequently recycles his cabinet, keeping trusted people close to him during his nine years in office.
Current Minister Rafael Isea was elected last month as Chavez's party's candidate in the state of Aragua for the November elections, where Chavez fears he may lose the capital Caracas and key governrships.
Isea's nomination sparked a period of speculation over who would replace the soft-spoken former soldier who oversaw a period of monetary tightening aimed, without much success, at reining in Latin America's highest inflation.
The outgoing finance minister, who joined the Cabinet only at the start of this year, implemented a policy that slashed the bolivar currency rate on the parallel exchange market and helped cut periodic shortages of some basic foodstuffs.
But the measures also slowed growth to its weakest since 2003 and inflation remains high, an election-year liability.
While investors typically study closely a change of finance minister in emerging markets, economists expect little policy impact from a new minister in Venezuela due to limits on the post's influence.
The president is the major decision-maker, and the planning minister is nominally the Cabinet's head of economic policy and influences strategy. Former economy ministers are believed to still advise Chavez on the portfolio.
