Humala picks two moderates for Peru Cabinet

The appointments burnish the pragmatic image Humala sought to project during the campaign, in which he convinced many voters he had shed his radical past and strident opposition to foreign investment, private capital and free trade.

Humala, speaking on local television, said his closest adviser, Salomon Lerner, a wealthy businessman who ran his campaign, would lead the Cabinet as prime minister.

The president-elect's press office also said via Twitter that orthodox economist Luis Miguel Castilla was chosen to be finance minister -- rounding out Humala's economic team after he said Sunday he would reappoint conservative central bank chief Julio Velarde, who is praised by Wall Street, to another five-year term.

Castilla was until Friday the deputy finance minister in current President Alan Garcia's government and is associated with the country's free-market economic model.

Thursday, Humala is expected to name another centrist, Carlos Herrera, as minister of mines and energy. Herrera, an engineer, held the same post in former President Valentin Paniagua's government. Herrera has indicated natural gas prices need to be reviewed at a time when exports of the fuel have angered voters who want to see domestic consumption made a priority.

Peru is one of the world's top minerals exporters. Foreign companies have pledged $50 billion (30 billion pounds) in mining and oil investments for the next decade in Peru, but conflicts between companies and rural communities over environmental issues have delayed many projects and worried investors.

While Humala's picks could please investors, he risks alienating hard-liners among his core supporters. They complain that free-market policies have caused a surge in growth over the past two decades but left behind a third of Peruvians mired in poverty.

(Reporting by Patricia Velez, Terry Wade and Marco Aquino; Editing by Peter Cooney)