Peru’s finance minister quits over audio recordings

In this July 28, 2016 file photo, Peru’s newly sworn-in President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, front row, second left, poses for a group photo with members of his new cabinet outside the National Palace in Lima, Peru. Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne, middle row, left, resigned Wednesday, June 21, 2017, amid accusations he pressured officials to approve a controversial airport project. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)

LIMA, Peru—Peru’s business-friendly finance minister resigned Wednesday amid accusations he pressured officials to approve a controversial airport project, delivering a new blow to President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski’s efforts to boost the South American nation’s slowing economy.

Alfredo Thorne’s resignation came after the opposition-controlled congress voted to censure the former Wall Street banker.

Thorne used to work for the World Bank and JP Morgan Chase and was seen as a star in Kuczynski’s Cabinet of foreign-educated technocrats.

But analysts say his political inexperience may have gotten the best of him.

The accusations that forced his resignation stem from the leak of a secret audio recording in which Thorne can be heard offering a high-ranking official a bigger budget if he signed off on plans to build a new airport near Cusco. JPV