The president of the Central Bank, Gabriel Galípolo, said today (11), in São Paulo, that monetary policy is in a calibration phase within a scenario that still requires considerable caution.
“I once again emphasize that the key word is this, the calibration, this adjustment of monetary policy from March onwards, precisely so that we can gather more confidence to start this cycle”, he said, during the CEO Conference Brasil 2026, an event promoted by BTG Pactual.
“In this environment where you have less confidence, given the size of the uncertainty in projections, the attitude of the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) was to be more conservative by waiting 45 days so that we can start this cycle with greater confidence”, he added.
In January, the Central Bank maintained the Selic rate at 15% per year (https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/economia/noticia/2026-01/bc-mantem-juros-basicos-em-15-ao-ano-por-quinta-vez-seguida), but signaled its intention to start the cycle of cuts in March if inflation remains under control and there are no surprises in the economic scenario.
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Comparison
During the event, Galípolo avoided talking about expectations and argued that the Central Bank needs to be calm when making decisions throughout the year.
“What does serenity mean? It means that the Central Bank is more like an ocean liner than a jet ski. He cannot make big movements and changes, he moves in a more measured and safe way”, he argued.
If the Central Bank is currently working with calibration, Galípolo highlighted that, for the coming years, the word that will guide the institution’s direction will be “stability”.
“The keyword for the Central Bank’s next years is stability. Our mandate is monetary stability and financial stability. The word that will emphasize our mandate is stability. That’s why I even joked that the new logo for this agenda will be a hollow square, because the square is the Jungian archetype of stability and it will be hollow because we want to provide transparency for this”, he said.
Master Case
During the interview, the president of the Central Bank praised the performance of the Federal Police in the investigations into the fraudulent management of Banco Master. He also praised the director of the Federal Police, Andrei Rodrigues, the Public Ministry, the financial market and the press for the handling of the case.
“From the first moment, when we realized that it was an issue that went beyond the topic of banking supervision and that required us to carry out communications and involve the Federal Police and the Public Ministry, there was courage and technical capacity from Andrei [Rodrigues]. The Federal Police were diligent, courageous and technical in this process”, he highlighted.
Attacks
“We also had, in the middle of the year, a series of attacks [direcionados ao BC]initially identified as cyberattacks, which required a quick and active response from the BC. And, for this, it was essential to have the partnership of the main institutions and the market so that we could do this in the correct dosage”, he added.
In the end, Galípolo defended the improvement of the Central Bank’s inspection instruments to avoid new situations of fraud in the Brazilian financial system.
“What we need is to improve and improve so that the same mistakes don’t happen again. Sunlight is always the best disinfectant in a process like this”, he concluded.
