Dilma meets with ministers to preside over the Brics bank – 09/03/2023 – Market

Former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) held virtual meetings with finance ministers from the Brics countries (bloc formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). The interviews with foreign authorities are part of the process of nominating the former representative for the presidency of the NDB (New Development Bank), a financial institution created by the group.

The finance ministers and equivalent ministries of the Brics —among them the Brazilian Fernando Haddad (Finance)— are part of the Board of Governors of the NDB, the bank’s highest decision-making body and the collegiate body responsible for appointing the institution’s president.

Upon assuming the presidency of the NDB, Dilma should receive a salary in excess of US$50,000 a month (equivalent to R$257,000), according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. The NDB is chaired on a rotating basis by the Brics countries, and Brazil’s mandate runs until 2025.

The expectation of members of the Brazilian government is that Dilma can complete the formal rites by the end of March, when she should accompany President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on an official trip to China.

The former president’s team confirmed to the Sheet that the round of meetings, held by videoconference, was concluded on Tuesday (7). Last week, she had spoken with the finance ministers of China, Liu Kun, and Russia, Anton Siluanov.

During the conversations, Dilma gave a presentation in which she explained her vision of the bank’s role and the institution’s challenges in the coming years.

In addition to the founding countries of the bank —the members of the Brics—, the NDB also has the governments of Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates as partners, which recently joined the body.

Rousseff’s designation for the command of the institution that finances infrastructure projects in the Brics countries involves an operation to remove the current president, Marcos Troyjo, from the entity.

Appointed in 2020 by former Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy), Troyjo should remain in office until the end of the Brazilian mandate. But his proximity to the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government and Lula’s willingness to place his ally in office made Troyjo’s permanence unsustainable.

To make room for Dilma, he can be removed by the Board of Governors or resign from office. People who follow the issue in the Brazilian government say that Troyjo should not create obstacles for his replacement.

Members of the Brazilian government also say they are confident with Dilma’s nomination process and her participation in the hearings with the governors. They claim that there was no manifestation of divergences in relation to the name chosen by the Lula government.

The presidency’s rotation rule discourages any opposition from other countries. As the terms of presidency are pre-established, foreign governments do not interfere in the name chosen by one of the partners in the expectation that they will not receive questions when they are to preside over the bank.

Furthermore, the fact that Dilma is a former President of the Republic who has Lula’s explicit support to assume the NDB discourages any questioning.

Having overcome the questioning process, Dilma is now awaiting a meeting of the Board of Governors to formalize her nomination for the presidency of the NDB. The expectation of assistants is that this phase will occur in the next 15 days.

Lula’s assistants hope that Dilma will be part of the official delegation that will be in China from the 24th to the 30th of this month already as designated president of the NDB. Lula is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the 28th.

Rousseff’s allies say that, with the appointment made, she should live and work in Shanghai, the bank’s headquarters. The former president resisted the first polls to take over the Brics bank because she would stay away from her family in Brazil, but changed her mind.

The Brazilian government’s negotiations for the appointment of Dilma to the bank began at the beginning of the current government. At the time, Minister Fernando Haddad informed Troyjo that he should step down.

Before joining the NDB, Troyjo was special secretary for Foreign Trade and International Affairs for Guedes at the Ministry of Economy.

A critic of Lula, he was a commentator for Jovem Pan and a columnist for Sheetand even referred to the PT member as a “convict” in appearances on the radio —reasons why his permanence on the bench was considered unfeasible.

Lula publicly confirmed his intention to take Dilma to the presidency of the bank in an interview with CNN on February 16th. “Look, if it’s up to me, she will [ser a presidente do banco]”, said the PT. The president said that Dilma’s nomination would be “wonderful” for the Brics and for Brazil.

“Dilma is an extraordinary woman, a person worthy of great respect, and the PT adores her. She, along with the PT’s militancy, is very dear. And she has something that she is very technically competent. So, if she president of the Brics bank, it will be a wonderful thing for the Brics, it will be a wonderful thing for Brazil”, he declared.

Before that, the government had already contacted Troyjo for him to resign and make way for Dilma —as shown by the column Mônica Bergamo, from the Sheet.

This Wednesday (8), the president made amends to Dilma during a ceremony alluding to Women’s Day, at the Planalto Palace. He said the impeachment of the former president in 2016 – which Lula called a coup – was a setback for women.

Dilma had her mandate revoked in 2016 in an impeachment process that was carried out in the House and Senate. Both Houses considered that the then president committed a crime of responsibility for the so-called “fiscal pedaling”, with the opening of budgetary credit without Congressional approval. The decision, in the process and on the merits, was accompanied without contestation by the STF (Federal Supreme Court).