Paraguay finance minister Lopez to step down, take IDB job: gov't source

Daniela Desantis
Updated ·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Paraguay's Finance Minister Benigno Lopez Benitez talks to Reuters, in Asuncion

By Daniela Desantis

ASUNCION (Reuters) - Paraguay's Finance Minister Benigno López will step down from his ministry position in the next few days to take a senior role at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), a government source told Reuters on Thursday.

The regional lender has picked Lopez as vice president for sectors and knowledge, according to a note seen by Reuters, which would involve a three-year term starting in mid-October.

The government source said López would be formally appointed to the IDB role in the coming days. The most likely replacement is former minister Ernst Bergen, the current Paraguayan head of the bi-national Itaipú hydroelectric dam.

López is the half-brother of Paraguayan President Mario Abdo and one of the government's main advisers. Before being Minister of Finance, he was head of the pension authority and director of the central bank, where he worked for more than two decades.

An IDB spokesman said that the bank had no comment on specific appointments, but added that newly elected IBD head Mauricio Claver-Carone was putting together a new leadership team as part of his plans.

(Reporting by Daniela Desantis; Writing by Adam Jourdan; Editing by Nick Zieminski)