A month ahead on presidential plans to sack the Peruvian finance minister

Reuters’ Peru bureau was four weeks ahead of all competitors in reporting that President Alan Garcia would sack his finance minister Mercedes Araoz and replace her with former banker Ismael Benavides as part of a cabinet reshuffle. Even better, the bureau stuck to its guns even when Garcia went on television to say the Reuters report was false. Our sources were very strong so we stood by the story, and we were proved 100 percent right when Garcia on Sept 14 finally made exactly the change we had predicted 27 days earlier. It was a huge scoop and caused a real stir in the country’s political and economy circles. We were also ahead when Garcia made the announcement and then scored an exclusive interview with the new finance minister on Sept 17, the only interview he has given since being sworn in, and in which he said he was considering trimming spending in a bid to cool the economy.

MARKET IMPACT

• Peruvian President Alan Garcia shakes hands with new Finance Minister Ismael Benavides as he swears him into the job on Sept 14.