PROFILE-Mexico's finance minister Ernesto Cordero

Position: Mexican Finance Minister

Incumbent: Ernesto Cordero, 42

Term: Appointed December 2009

Key Facts:

-- As a key player in President Felipe Calderon's push for pro-business reforms, Cordero favors higher taxes on consumption to boost the country's anemic tax take, but opposition in Congress to any deep fiscal overhaul makes major tax changes look unlikely.

-- Cordero had big shoes to fill when he was appointed in late 2009 after his much more experienced predecessor at the finance ministry, respected economist Agustin Carstens, left to run the central bank. Cordero is well spoken and frequently appears before the media. He is a fluent English speaker.

-- Cordero is considered to be one of the cabinet members closest to the president. Cordero crafted Calderon's policy platform for his presidential campaign and has been a long-standing policy brain for Calderon's conservative National Action Party (PAN).

-- Cordero showed his free-marketeer credentials earlier this year when the finance ministry refused to allow government backing for a bond issue by struggling former state airline, Mexicana de Aviacion.

-- After earning a Master's degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998, Cordero ran a conservative think tank that advises lawmakers for the PAN. He was minister for social development between 2008 and 2009. Previously, Cordero held senior posts in the energy and finance ministries. He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania and at several Mexican universities. (Reporting by Jason Lange)