President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said this Friday (30) that the future president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, will have autonomy at the head of the agency. The economist was appointed by President Lula last Wednesday (28) for the presidency of the Central Bank, through an announcement made by the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, at the Planalto Palace. 
“He is an extremely competent young man. He will work with the same autonomy as Meirelles did. [Henrique Meirelles, ex-presidente do BC]especially because he will have a mandate. When he passes the Senate, he will have a four-year mandate, the same mandate as the President of the Republic. This gives him the right to do the right things,” he said in an interview with Rádio MaisPB, in João Pessoa, this morning.
“If interest rates have to be lowered, they will be lowered. If interest rates have to be raised, they will be raised. But there has to be an explanation,” the president added.
Former Secretary of Economy and Transportation for the government of São Paulo, Galípolo worked at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), the Brazilian Center for International Relations and Banco Fator, an institution he founded. In 2023, he took on the role of executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, until he was nominated and approved for the position of director of Monetary Policy at the Central Bank, which he has held since July of last year.
Lula once again criticized the current president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, and the level of base interest ratethe Selic, at 10.5% per year.
The president also stated that he does not agree with the autonomy of the Central Bank. “If I had a vote, I would be against it. But there it is, it will remain. I think that the president of the Republic has the right to appoint the president of the Central Bank and to remove him if he does not like it. I put Galípolo in office and if he does something very wrong, what do I do? I do not know who created the idea that the guy is untouchable,” he said.
Elon Musk
When asked about billionaire Elon Musk’s decision not to comply with the Supreme Federal Court’s (STF) decision, Lula stated that Brazilian citizens and foreigners with investments in Brazil must respect Brazilian laws and decisions of the country’s Supreme Court.
Last Wednesday (28), Minister Alexandre de Moraes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), summoned Musk, owner of the social network X, formerly Twitter, ordering him to appoint a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours. Musk did not comply with the measure within the expected deadline.
“It’s not because a guy has a lot of money that he can be disrespectful. He’s an American citizen, he’s not a citizen of the world. He can’t go around offending presidents, deputies, the Senate, the House, the Supreme Court. What does he think he is? He has to respect the decision of the Brazilian Supreme Court. If he wants to, okay, if he doesn’t, too bad. If not, this country will never be sovereign,” he said.
This afternoon, Alexandre de Moraes ordered the suspension of the social network X in Brazil for failing to comply with the subpoena. According to the decision made this Friday (30), it will be up to the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to comply with the suspension within 24 hours and notify the telephone operators to carry out the blocks. The operators must also block the use of VPN by users who attempt to circumvent the suspension.
