Paraguay banking crisis: New President orders all ministers to resign, appoints Schreiner as new central bank head

Following a major banking crisis in Paraguay, newly appointed President Pedro Alliana on Monday (November 9) directed all ministers to resign from their respective posts. The crisis locked millions of people out of their accounts, losing their money after Paraguay’s Central Bank seized Ueno on November 3, a move that triggered massive protests.

Former vice president Alliana took charge as the country's president on Friday after senators impeached Santiago Pena after the collapse of Ueno Bank, to which Pena is connected. Alliana said he had directed his newly appointed chief of staff, Rolando de Barros, to request resignations from ministers, secretaries, and other top state officials holding positions of trust.

“My goal is to strengthen coordination within the Government and ensure more efficient management,” he said in a post on social media platform X, adding that “all institutions will continue to operate with complete normality.”

Schreiner appointed as new central bank head of Paraguay

Meanwhile, Paraguay’s Congress named economist Jorge Schreiner as the country’s new central bank governor on Monday, amid a political and economic crisis sparked by the intervention and collapse of digital lender Ueno. Newly sworn-in President Pedro Alliana had put forward Schreiner’s name for the post earlier the same day.

The appointment follows the removal of former central bank chief Carlos Carvallo on Friday, who now faces charges from prosecutors over alleged links to Ueno and has been placed in pretrial detention.

Following the crisis, the Central Bank began retrieving deposits on Thursday through a guarantee fund. By Saturday, the bank had returned nearly $160 million to almost 1.2 million people. Impeached President Santiago Pena, who came to power in 2023, had been holding shares in the bank’s holding company until he sold them last year.

He is accused of using his influence as president to steer millions in government deposits to Ueno and of hiding or downplaying its financial woes despite warnings about questionable loans and solvency issues. Authorities placed the ex-leader under house arrest immediately after his impeachment and raided his home over the weekend as part of the probe into the bank collapse.