Salvadoran president replaces finance minister

SAN SALVADOR: Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has appointed Alejandro Zelaya as the new finance minister, replacing Nelson Fuentes, the government said late on Tuesday.

Bukele's office made the announcement on Twitter without providing reasons for the change.

Zelaya, an accountant who had been deputy finance minister, was sworn in as Fuentes' replacement on Tuesday afternoon, the government said.

Fuentes had played a key role in handling the $3 billion authorized by congress to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected nearly 16,000 people and caused some 430 deaths in the Central American country.

Fuentes had been the minister since March 2018, having taken the job under the previous administration led by the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).

He was retained by Bukele when he took office in June of last year.