International Monetary Fund deputy managing director Agustin Carstens, widely seen as the favourite to become Mexico's next finance minister, said on Monday he was quitting to join President-elect Felipe Calderon's transition team.
The former Mexican deputy finance minister said in a statement he had been appointed to co-ordinate Calderon's economic program. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source at Calderon's transition headquarters said Carstens' agreement to take the job raised the possibility he could be named finance minister.
Carstens has been tipped for that job since Calderon won the July 2 presidential election and is favored by Wall Street, according a broad spectrum of local and foreign investors, analysts and the media. Calderon takes office on December 1.
Carstens has wide knowledge of Mexico's financial system. As well as serving in the finance ministry in the 1990s, he has occupied senior positions, including the chief of staff post, at the country's central bank.
Calderon has pledged to continue the fiscal austerity that has earned current president Vicente Fox investors' respect despite lackluster growth during his term.