The name of the former minister was announced by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, in a statement at the official residence in São Bento.

In the short statement, the Prime Minister said that he chose Maria Luís Albuquerque with the support of the entire Government, in a process that took place with "complete discretion", and highlighted the profile of the former Minister of State and Finance under Pedro Passos Coelho.

“Given her profile and the direct and personal knowledge I have of her capabilities, I know that she will bring honour to Portugal”, he said.

Maria Luís Albuquerque, 56, was Minister of State and Finance during the period in which Portugal was receiving financial assistance from the ‘troika’, succeeding Vítor Gaspar in July 2013 and remaining until the end of the executive led by Pedro Passos Coelho.

In the PSD, she was vice president during Passos Coelho’s leadership and head of the list of PSD candidates for deputies in Setúbal in 2011 and 2015.

She is currently a member of the PSD National Council – second name on Luís Montenegro’s list of directors, right after Carlos Moedas – and a member of the Supervisory Board of the European subsidiary of the North American company Morgan Stanley.