In an exclusive interview with CNN this Thursday (16), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva stated that the government intends to reassess the autonomy of the Central Bank at the end of the mandate of the entity’s current president, Roberto Campos Neto.
“What I want to know is the result (of an autonomous BC), will the result be better? Will an autonomous Central Bank be better? Will the economy improve? Great, but if it doesn’t get better, we have to change,” he said.
“Let’s see how useful the independence of the Central Bank was for this country. If he brought something extraordinarily positive to the country, there is no problem with him being independent”, said the president.
Lula, however, highlighted that the BC “is not independent, it is autonomous”, emphasizing that the entity has commitments with Brazilian society, with the National Congress and with him, President of the Republic.
“What I want to know is the result. Will the result be better? Will an autonomous Central Bank be better? Will the economy improve? Excellent [se melhorar]but if it doesn’t improve, we have to change”, stressed the Chief Executive.
Lula also said that it is not up to him to “keep fighting” with Campos Neto, but that if necessary, he will talk to him. The petista said that his finance minister, Fernando Haddad, has a more fundamental role in this direct approach with Campos Neto.
“I think Haddad is willing to talk to the BC president. He has already talked several times and will continue to talk. If it is necessary for the President of the Republic to talk to the President of the Central Bank, if it is in Brazil’s interest, I also have no problem talking to anyone,” he said.
When talking about interest rates at high levels, Lula again showed desire for a fall in the Selic rate, and mentioned the market in relation to the current level of the basic rate.
“I keep asking myself which businessman will invest [no país] having to borrow money at 13.75% interest. Will not. It’s higher than the rate of return he might want to earn,” she assessed.
“So, if there is a law that says that the president of the Central Bank needs to fulfill these functions [meta da inflação], he needs to fulfill, it is his goal. When the President of the Republic was responsible for the Central Bank, because he indicated, we talked. When you had to increase, you increased, without any problem. But you needed to take care of the other side”, added the president.
CNN anchor Daniela Lima interviewed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) directly from the Planalto Palace in Brasília. The entirety of Lula’s first interview with CNN Brasil since he took office will air this Thursday (16), at 6 pm, on channel 577, Prime Video, YouTube, TikTok and Kwai.
(Posted by Fabricio Julião of CNN)
Source: CNN Brasil
I am an experienced journalist, writer, and editor with a passion for finance and business news. I have been working in the journalism field for over 6 years, covering a variety of topics from finance to technology. As an author at World Stock Market, I specialize in finance business-related topics.
