Paz raised his right hand in front of a Bible and a cross as he took the oath of office in front of legislators and foreign dignitaries.
Bolivians weary of the acute gasoline shortages and exorbitant food prices that have come to define the nation's greatest economic crisis in forty years are eagerly awaiting Paz's 58th inauguration. In Bolivia's presidential runoff last month, he unexpectedly defeated his far more well-known right-wing rival, former President Jorge "Tuto" Quiroga.
After 20 years of leadership by the Movement Toward Socialism party, which was founded by the charismatic former president Evo Morales, Paz takes over an economy in ruins. The party's economic strategy of generous subsidies and natural gas exports have faltered since the party's peak in the early 2000s commodities boom.
The majority of voters selected Paz to help them escape the economic crisis due to the scarcity of U.S. cash and ongoing gasoline shortages. Unlike Quiroga, who supported a fiscal shock program and an International Monetary Fund bailout, he proposed significant reforms, albeit more gradually.
In Bolivia's capital, La Paz, the inauguration was attended by the presidents of Argentina (Javier Milei), Chile (Gabriel Boric), Ecuador (Daniel Noboa), Uruguay (Yamandú Orsi), and Paraguay (Santiago Peña).
Following his election on October 20, Paz turned away from the ALBA bloc, of which Bolivia is a member along with Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and toward the United States, with whom his nation had been increasingly estranged following the expulsion of the American ambassador in 2008 during Morales's administration.
“After two decades of left-wing government, he can count on the goodwill of foreign investors and the international community,”
said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based international think tank.
“His task will not be easy. If he acts too slowly or his policies stagnate and fail to pull Bolivia out of its economic crisis, Paz risks losing political capital.”
Following the election, Paz also declared that his administration would work with all international agencies on security issues, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which Morales had banished from Bolivia at the end of 2008.
With his Christian Democratic Party holding only 39% of the Legislative Assembly's 166 seats, Paz will now need to focus on forming a strong coalition with political blocs.
What immediate economic measures will Paz propose to stabilize reserves?
Rodrigo Paz's immediate profitable measures to stabilize Bolivia's reserves include securing external backing and enforcing programs similar to cutting energy subsidies, especially reducing diesel subsidies for husbandry and other business sectors.
Gasoline subsidies for public transport will be phased out more gradually to soften the impact on ordinary citizens. Paz aims to move toward a more flexible exchange rate system to more manage the currency and bolster foreign reserves.
He has formerly engaged with multinational creditors like the International Monetary Fund( IMF) and theInter-American Development Bank to seek support, with expedients to open fresh credit lines. These measures are part of a broader profitable deliverance plan fastening on financial discipline, reducing subsidies, and promoting private sector- led growth while maintaining social programs.