President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva praised this Friday (20) the director of Monetary Policy and next president of the Central Bank (BC), Gabriel Galípolo, in a video posted on social media. In the statement, alongside Ministers Fernando Haddad, of Finance; Simone Tebet, from Planning and Budget, and Rui Costa, from the Civil House, the president guaranteed that the government will not interfere in the federal authority, which has had full management autonomy since 2021, including mandates for directors and president. 
“I want you to know that there will never be any interference from the Presidency in the work you have to do at the Central Bank,” said Lula.
Galípolo takes over the BC from January 1st and will have a 4-year term at the head of the institution, which supervises the financial system and conducts the country’s monetary policy. He replaces Roberto Campos Neto, appointed to the position by former president Jair Bolsonaro, and who served his first cycle in office since the autonomy came into force.
“Today, we are offering a gift, something new to Brazil. This young man called Galípolo is assuming the presidency of the Central Bank. I wanted to tell Galípolo that we remain more convinced than ever that economic stability and the fight against inflation are the things most important to protect the salaries and purchasing power of Brazilian families. We have taken the necessary measures to protect the new fiscal rule and will continue to be attentive to the need for new measures”, highlighted the President of the Republic, at the beginning of the video.
Lula also said that the country “is guided by strong independent institutions, which work in harmony to move forward with responsibility.”
“I want you to know that you are here because of a relationship of trust from me and the entire government team. And I want to say that you will certainly be the most important president of the Central Bank that this country has ever had, because you will be the president with more autonomy than the Central Bank has ever had. Because, I am sure that, due to your professional quality, your life experience and your commitment to the Brazilian people, you will certainly teach a lesson in how the Central Bank is governed with the true autonomy”, continued Lula.
Over the past year, Lula has criticized the BC under the management of Campos Neto, especially because of the level of the economy’s basic interest rate, the Selic, the main instrument used by the Central Bank to control inflation.
Last week, the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom) of the BC raised the Selic rate againthis time by one percentage point, to 12.25%, in a unanimous decision by the institution’s directors. The rise in the dollar and the uncertainties surrounding inflation and the global economy were the main reasons cited by the Copom for tightening interest rates.
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Former Secretary of Economy and Transport of the government of São Paulo, Gabriel Galípolo worked at the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), at the Brazilian Center for International Relations and at Banco Fator, an institution he founded. In 2023, he assumed the position of executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, until he was appointed and approved for the BC Monetary Policy directorate, which he has held since July last year. He was appointed by Lula at the end of August this year and had his name approved by the Federal Senatein October, after undergoing a hearing.
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