Lula says BC president needs to “explain to the people” why he is not lowering interest rates

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) once again criticized the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, for maintaining the interest rate at 13.75% in the week in which the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) will meet to discuss the direction of the Selic. The collegiate meets from this Tuesday (20) and announces the decision on Wednesday (21).

“Inflation is going down, the dollar is going down, only interest needs to go down, because there is no explanation either. The president of the Central Bank needs to explain not to me, because I already know why he doesn’t lower it, but explain to the Brazilian people and the Senate that elected him why he maintains these interest rates of 13.75% in a country that has annual inflation of 5%”, said Lula during a live this Monday morning (19).

The speech against Campos Neto was preceded by statements that he is fulfilling campaign promises such as “Brazilianizing” fuel prices, with the change in Petrobras’ pricing policy and the consequent drop in the liter of gasoline and diesel, possibly to the gas further ahead, among others.

Market analysts predict that this week’s Copom meeting will keep the interest rate at the current level, but already forecast to start a downward trend as of August. The expectation is that the Selic will end the year at 12.25% according to the Focus Report released this Monday (19).