Haddad and Rui Costa try to cut corners after clashes – 03/23/2023 – Market

In an attempt to undo the unease and the climate of clash between the Treasury and the Civil House, ministers Fernando Haddad and Rui Costa had a meeting this Thursday (23) to iron out rough spots and appease the relationship between the two after a series of frictions.

The meeting, which was not initially on the agenda, lasted about 40 minutes and took place at the Treasury’s headquarters. In the end, the two ministers went down to talk to the press and posed for photos, together and smiling.

“Attrition? Here, look at his smile, look at mine”, said Rui Costa in a friendly tone, flanked by a Minister of Finance who was also smiling.

The central objective of the meeting was to seal the peace and dissipate the climate of mistrust that hit the core of the government, inflamed by a series of leaks that displeased Haddad and were being blamed on the head of the Civil House.

The two had a frank conversation to undo recent noise involving the disclosure of the names of the two future appointees to the Central Bank board and details of the new fiscal rule to be proposed by the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was an initiative of Rui Costa, who had already called Haddad on Wednesday night (22) to say that he had nothing to do with the disclosure of the names.

The suspicion arose because, on Tuesday (21), Costa said in an interview with GloboNews that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) had already defined the names for the BC based on Haddad’s suggestions and that the formal referral it would be done after the president’s trip to China, which starts on March 25th and runs until April 1st.

“Haddad took both names, he [Lula] talked to both, approved and will indicate both names to the Senate as soon as he returns [da China]”, said the minister.

Hours later, the names leaked to the press, even before the official nomination and Haddad managed to talk to BC president Roberto Campos Neto about the choices.

The leak bothered the Minister of Finance, who credited Costa with disclosing it – precisely because he had said earlier that there was already a definition around the topic. Haddad declined to confirm the choice when questioned by journalists on Wednesday night (22).

According to allies, Haddad was upset that he had met on the same night with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), without having mentioned the succession in BC, since it had not been formalized.

One of the names, that of administrator Rodolfo Fróes, began to be bombarded by criticism for accumulating in his curriculum the direction of a company of the J&F group (of the Batista brothers) and a partnership with the trio of billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Carlos Alberto Sicupira and Marcel Telles, Americanas’ main shareholders, currently undergoing judicial reorganization.

The early exposure of the government’s nominees for BC has caused Haddad to start reconsidering the names, and a change in nominations is not entirely out of the question. The minister himself said that he forwarded five possible candidates to Lula so that the president could choose the new directors. The expectation is that the subject will be discussed between the two during the trip to China.

In the “DR” between Haddad and Costa, the two tried to undo what they are now starting to call misunderstandings.

Haddad, in turn, criticized the fact that his colleague publicly said that the choice was already closed without actually being. The two discussed ways to try to avoid new leaks, attributed by Haddad’s allies to the Civil House.

The ministers also took the opportunity to clarify the episode of the JEO (Budget Execution Board) meeting, held last Tuesday to define the new fiscal projections for the year’s Budget.

The Chief of Staff asked Haddad if he had “thrown him into the fire”. He was referring to the fact that the information was circulating that Costa had subjected his colleagues from Esplanada to a wait of more than 50 minutes.

The meeting was scheduled for 8:30 am, but ended up being delayed by almost 50 minutes. Haddad, who had further commitments, left and left the Secretary of the National Treasury, Rogério Ceron, as his representative.

Later, when asked about his absence, the finance minister cited the delay — which ended up being interpreted as an indication that Rui Costa kept the ministers waiting.

Discomfort in relation to this statement was voiced by the head of the Civil House. Haddad claimed to have justified himself in response to the version that he had insulted Costa.

They even put to light the information that reached Haddad’s ears that Costa would have been harsh with the Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, in a meeting – which the minister denied that had occurred.

At the end of the meeting, Haddad said that he would accompany his colleague to the exit of the ministry, where they were awaited by journalists.

In a quick interview, Costa said that the content of the meeting was “working together for the Lula government to succeed”. “We are working hard and in this partnership we will certainly guarantee jobs, income and that Brazil will improve”, he said.

In a relaxed tone, Haddad said that the visit came from a complaint he had not yet received from Costa. “Now I’ve been visited, like all the other ministers,” he said.

“We talked about everything, we have a lot to talk about, to align. We talk about Copom [Comitê de Política Monetária], we talked about Congress, we talked about the solution for the processing of provisional measures. It’s a long schedule, but the project will succeed. That’s what’s important,” added Haddad.

Before getting into the car, Costa turned to the journalists and said that they “won a photo today”.