BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's economy minister resigned unexpectedly Saturday, dealing a fresh blow to the government of President Alberto Ferandez as the country struggles with economic problems.
Martin Guzman stepped down after a week in which Argentina's currency hit an all-time low against the dollar amid sizzling inflation and truck drivers staged protests over shortages of diesel fuel.
Gabriela Cerruti, the presidency's spokesperson, wrote on Twitter late Sunday that Silvina Batakis will now head the Economy Ministry, replacing Guzman.
Batakis was the economy minister of Buenos Aires province, the country's most populous district, from 2011 to 2015.
"I write to you to present my resignation as economy minister," Guzman said in a seven-page letter addressed to Fernandez that he published on Twitter that highlighted internal battles within the administration.
Illustrating the tensions, Guzman announced his resignation while Vice President Cristina Fernandez was giving a high-profile speech in which she lambasted the government's economic policies. The vice president, who is not related to Argentina's leader, is a former president herself and the governing coalition has been splintering between their allies.
With the Argentine peso sliding against the dollar, the government on Tuesday made it harder to acquire dollars to pay for imports as the local currency reached new lows in the parallel market used by citizens and companies to bypass official channels.
Argentina has suffered for years from a shortage of dollars, which stems partly from the distrust of Argentines in their own currency amid high inflation. Inflation is running at an annual rate of more than 60% and economists expect the rate to keep worsening.
On Wednesday, the government said it was trying to increase the availability of diesel by allowing more biofuel to be mixed into the fuel and also by suspending the import tax on diesel.
Argentina produces diesel but not in sufficient quantities for its needs and depends on imports, with world prices rising because of disruptions by the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Analysts say one of the reasons for the shortage is that it is not profitable for oil companies to import diesel because the government prevents them from charging what it costs to buy on the international market.
In his resignation letter, Guzman suggested that at least part of his reason for leaving was because he lacked political backing inside the government.
"From the experience I've lived," he wrote, "I consider it will be fundamental to work on a political agreement within the governing coalition so that the person who replaces me will have the centralized control of the necessary macroeconomic policy instruments ... to face the challenges ahead."
Guzman had been in his post since the start of Fernandez's government on Dec. 10, 2019.
In his resignation letter, Guzman said that his main goal when taking the job was to "calm the economy" and in order to do that it was necessary to "resolve the problems of the unsustainable external debt that overwhelm the state, as well as all of Argentina."