Lula wants to take Campos Neto to miserable regions of the country – 02/16/2023 – Market

After a few days of truce, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) again criticized the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, again calling him a “citizen” and saying that he knew little of him, and offered to take him it to the poorest places in the country, to show the reality of the population.

“As President of the Republic, it is not interesting to fight with a citizen who is president of the Central Bank and whom I know little about. I saw him once. The only thing I want is for him to comply […] If he agrees, when I take my government to visit the most miserable places in this country, I’ll take him to see it. He has to know that people in this country have to govern for the people who need it most,” said the president in an interview with CNN.

The broadcaster released some excerpts from the interview, the entirety of which should air at 6 pm this Thursday (16)

Lula had been maintaining a climate of belligerence with the Central Bank and with the president of the institution, Roberto Campos Neto. However, as the Sheet showed, was advised by close allies to tone down and avoid confrontation. The strategy became to leave criticism and attacks to PT parliamentarians, a truce that was broken in the CNN interview.

The president had begun his criticism of the high interest rate, of 13.75% per year, and then focused his attacks on the autonomy of the Central Bank, provided for in a law approved by the National Congress in 2021. Lula called this condition of the institution. On the same occasion, he also criticized the annual inflation target of 3.25%.

He has said that high interest rates and the inflation target are impediments to implementing the social policies sought by his government. Then he said that he could change the institution’s autonomy after the departure of that “citizen”, without mentioning the name of Roberto Campos Neto. The director’s term runs until December 2024.

Economists critical of Lula point to flaws in the criticism of the basic interest rate, considered “excessive” by PT members, and argue that it was the president’s statements against Central Bank autonomy and in favor of more public spending that raised inflation expectations, making the fall of the Selic more difficult.

This week, however, the PT had avoided criticizing the interest rate, the institution and Campos Neto, indicating that he was following the advice of the allies to avoid confrontation. The president of the Central Bank, in turn, also made conciliatory statements.

In the Roda Viva program, which aired this Monday (13), Roberto Campos Neto showed willingness with the government and said that he will do everything in his power to bring the BC closer to the PT administration.

Two days later, on Wednesday (15), during a formal session at the National Congress, he said that it is necessary to have a “more special eye on social issues”.