Arthur Lira says that Central Bank autonomy “will not retroact”

central bank

President of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL) responded to recent attacks by President Lula (PT) on the performance of the Central Bank (BC)

Brasilia DF) – The mayor, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), said this Thursday (9), that the autonomy of the Central Bank, approved in 2021 by Congress, “will not retroact”. The declaration, made during the Show Rural event, in Cascavel (PR), took place amidst criticism from the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and from government supporters in the Legislative against the actions of the monetary authority and its president, Roberto Campos Neto .

“I have the listening, the tendency of what the majority of the plenary thinks. With regard to the independence of the Central Bank, this matter will not be retroactive”, said Lira, at a press conference, around 12:00 noon.

“The independent Central Bank is a world brand, Brazil needs to insert itself in this context”, amended the deputy, stating that autonomy was the model chosen by Congress for the BC.

On Wednesday (8), PT leaders in the Chamber decided to support an invitation for Campos Neto to go to Congress to explain the institution’s interest rate policy. Hours earlier, the minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha, had stated that there is no action taken by the government to revert the BC’s autonomy.

After a meeting of the allied base on Wednesday, the leader of the PT in the Chamber, Zeca Dirceu (PR), said that he signed an urgent request presented by the PSOL so that Campos Neto is invited to give explanations in the Chamber about the basic interest rate, the Selic, maintained at 13.75% last week by the BC’s Monetary Policy Committee (Copom).

Leader of the government in the Chamber, José Guimarães (PT-CE) stated that he will also sign the document.

According to Dirceu, the possibility of forming a commission of deputies who would go to the BC to take questions to Campos Neto was also discussed at the meeting of the governing base. The leader of the PT in the Chamber said that there was no consensus around this proposal, but that it was not completely discarded.

Before entering the meeting, the leader of the PSOL in the Chamber, Guilherme Boulos (SP) stated that there is also no consensus among the government base to support the bill that revokes the BC’s autonomy. The PL was announced on Wednesday by PSOL, after Lula intensified his criticism at the Selic level.

Boulos even called Campos Neto an “infiltrator” of former President Jair Bolsonaro and former Economy Minister Paulo Guedes. For the deputy, the president of BC acts to boycott the resumption of economic growth by keeping the Selic at the current level.

President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) said on Wednesday that the BC’s autonomy is an advance that removes political criteria from an institution that has a very strong technical aspect. The senator also said that Campos Neto is a “well-prepared man”.

*With information from Istoé

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