Buenos Aires, Jul 30 (IANS): Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said that the reshuffle of his cabinet was in response to the economic challenges facing the South American country.

"I have summoned Sergio Massa to join the government team. His vision, capacity and experience will allow us to continue working and improving the roadmap we set out," the President said in a tweet late Friday.

On Thursday, Fernandez unified the three ministries of Economy, Productive Development, and Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries into a single portfolio with Massa, current president of the Chamber of Deputies, at the helm.

"What we have experienced as a country and as a society in the last few months, and particularly in the last few weeks, forces us to have better coordination, calling for a joint effort of the productive forces," he added.

As part of the measures, Fernandez appointed Silvina Batakis, who was Minister of Economy since July 4, the new President of the state-owned Bank of the Argentine Nation, while Daniel Scioli, who was in charge of the Productive Development Ministry, will return to the Argentine Embassy in Brazil.

Since the beginning of July, the country has been facing a devaluation of its currency against the US dollar, which was quoted on Friday at 138.29 Argentine pesos in the official market and 303 Argentine pesos in the black market.