Finance Minister Fernando Haddad suggested to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that the new president of the Central Bank (BC) be chosen between the end of August and the beginning of September. In a teleconference participation in an event promoted by Banco Santander, Haddad said that he discussed the ideal date for the announcement of the future name with the current president of the BC, Roberto Campos Neto.
“I made a point of consulting Roberto Campos Neto so that the transition would be longer [com a indicação saindo até setembro para a troca de comando em 2025]. I believe that the president [Lula] is already considering the matter,” said Haddad.
According to Haddad, the conversation with Campos Neto took place at the beginning of the year, before tensions between Lula and the president of the Central Bank worsened. The minister, however, said that the decision on when to appoint the future head of the Central Bank depends on Lula.
“I fulfilled a formality that seems to me to be more than a polite gesture, which was to talk to Roberto Campos Neto about this. We both came to the conclusion, which was taken to President Lula, that August would be a good month to announce a transition period,” he said.
Earlier this evening, the leader of the Government in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), said he believed that the nomination and the hearing of the future president of the Central Bank would be completed by the second week of September. In the first week of the month, the Senate will make a concentrated effort to vote, in the midst of the campaign for the municipal elections. However, Wagner stated that the effort could be extended to the following week, from September 9 to 13.
At the end of the year, the terms of office of Campos Neto and the directors of Regulation, Otávio Damaso, and of Relations, Carolina Barros, will end. The government has not yet decided whether it will appoint the three names at once or whether it will leave the appointment of the directors until the end of the year.
