Peru c.bank chief Velarde says weighing Castillo request to stay on

The president of Peru's central bank, Julio Velarde, said on Thursday that he would discuss socialist candidate Pedro Castillo's request for him to remain in his post once he is officially confirmed as the Andean nation's next president. Castillo, who has rattled the Andean country's political establishment with pledges to redistribute wealth and rewrite the constitution, finished with a narrow 44,000-vote lead over conservative rival Keiko Fujimori with all ballots counted from the June 6 election, though the result has been delayed with Fujimori alleging fraud.

The president of Peru's central bank, Julio Velarde, said on Thursday that he would discuss socialist candidate Pedro Castillo's request for him to remain in his post once he is officially confirmed as the Andean nation's next president.

Castillo, who has rattled the Andean country's political establishment with pledges to redistribute wealth and rewrite the constitution, finished with a narrow 44,000-vote lead over conservative rival Keiko Fujimori with all ballots counted from the June 6 election, though the result has been delayed with Fujimori alleging fraud. Castillo publicly asked Velarde to stay on in his job as head of the monetary body last weekend in what was seen as an important signal of stability for markets.

Velarde did not rule the proposal out. "When Mr Castillo asked me, I thanked him and told him that I am going to have a longer conversation with him, once he is proclaimed (as president)," he told an economic forum organized by the Ministry of Economy. Velarde, whose term ends alongside the five-year presidential term in July, heads a seven-member board of directors at the central bank. The government appoints four, including its president, and the rest are appointed by Congress.

Economist Velarde is a highly respected and recognized civil servant in the financial world who has run the central bank since 2006, during a period of intense political turbulence in Peru in which successive presidents have been accused of corruption.