Peru's respected outgoing economy minister, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, said on Tuesday he was taking over as prime minister in a reshuffle to end President Alejandro Toledo's worst Cabinet crisis in his four years in office.
Kuczynski, a flute- and squash-playing former fund manager who helped turn Peru's economy from moribund in 2001 to one of the region's best performers, will have the task of keeping the rocky government on an even keel ahead of elections in 2006.
He told RPP radio his former deputy at the Economy Ministry, Fernando Zavala, would take on his previous portfolio, a decision applauded by economists.
"What we are trying to do is ensure that this government ends in an orderly fashion, maintaining the economy's good performance, ensuring that there are totally transparent and clean elections and handing over a clean house to the next government," said Kuczynski, Peru's fifth premier in four years.
Toledo is barred by law from running in elections in April 2006 and hands power in July. The presidential race is still wide open.
Kuczynski, a political independent, is also believed to harbor presidential ambitions and if he decides to run - something he did not make clear on Tuesday - he would have to quit his new job by October 7.