Peruvian Finance Minister Mercedes Araoz told local media today she is considering running for president next year, in a candidacy that would likely benefit from the country's booming economic growth, according to Reuters. Araoz confirmed she is in talks with ruling-party leaders about the possibility of being their candidate ahead of the April 2011 vote. The 48-year-old economist had been mentioned in the past as a potential candidate. "I've got to analyze it very carefully. It'd mean taking the reins of this country and striving so that it continues growing. That's a lot of work and sacrifice," Araoz told Andina Television. Araoz, who became finance minister in December 2009, is not a member of the ruling APRA party. But she is close to President Alan Garcia, the party's top official. If she were to run for president, she would have to resign as minister at least six months before the ballot. Araoz's candidacy is seen getting a boost from Peru's sizzling economic growth, which the International Monetary Fund has said would be the fastest in Latin America this year. She also served as the head of Peru's trade and production ministries under Garcia, who has made attracting foreign investment the centerpiece of his economic policies. According to a recent poll, Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori, is the favorite to win next year's election, followed by Lima's Mayor, Luis Castaneda, and ultranationalist politician Ollanta Humala, who was the runner-up in a 2006 election. Peru has never had a woman as its president.
