Ministers advise Lula to avoid criticizing Campos Neto and focus on interest rates

Power Agenda - Ministers at the Presidential Palace advised President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to avoid further direct criticism of the Central Bank president, Roberto Campos Neto, and to tone down his rhetoric when discussing monetary policy, according to information from g1.

According to sources within the Presidential Palace, the ministers suggested that Lula should not personalize the discussion of interest rates in the figure of the Central Bank president, but rather discuss "the thesis" in a more general and comprehensive way when he returns to the subject.

Lula heeded this advice from his three closest ministers: Alexandre Padilha, from the Secretariat of Institutional Relations; Rui Costa, from the Civil House; and Paulo Pimenta, from the Secretariat of Communications.

The three are gradually establishing themselves as Lula's key advisors on decisions involving political negotiations. The president has been meeting with the trio almost every day.

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has always been very close to Lula, but he tends to give advice that is more technical and less political.

In the opinion of the palace ministers, the criticism of Campos Neto ended up giving the president of the Central Bank a lot of visibility.

The current arrangement is for the Workers' Party (PT), as an institution, and its members of parliament to make the most incisive criticisms of the Central Bank. "The PT is Lula's new José Alencar," a palace source stated. During Lula's first terms, the criticism of high interest rates fell primarily to Vice President José Alencar, an industrialist.

Members of the Workers' Party (PT) interviewed by the blog believe that Campos Neto's latest statements about Lula and Haddad may be seen as a good sign, but they are still insufficient because there has been no indication that he will advocate for interest rate reductions in the coming months.