Uruguay names new economy minister

Uruguayan President Jose Mujica announced Monday that Central Bank President Mario Bergara will succeed Fernando Lorezo as the economy minister. Bergara, who will be sworn in Thursday, will follow the main guidelines of the government's economic policy and attend the last cabinet meeting of this year on Friday, Mujica told a press briefing outside his residence in Montevideo. The 48-year-old Bergara, an economist, has been heading the central bank since 2008. Lorenzo, facing allegations that he took part in the irregular sale of bankrupt national airline Pluna, resigned Saturday, saying he did not want to interfere in an investigation brought against him by the Attorney General's office. Meanwhile, according to official sources, Uruguay's central bank will be led by Alberto Grana, the bank's current director of economic policy and markets.