Haddad presents Guilherme Mello's name to Lula for a position on the Central Bank's board of directors.

247 - Finance Minister Fernando Haddad (PT) has submitted the name of economist Guilherme Mello to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to fill one of the open positions on the board of directors of the Central Bank of Brazil. Currently the Secretary of Economic Policy at the Ministry of Finance, Mello is considered by government officials to be a trusted technical figure for Haddad to join the top ranks of the monetary authority, at a time of discussions about greater alignment between fiscal and monetary policies. This information was initially reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by the newspaper... The Globe.

According to reports from sources at the Presidential Palace, the topic was discussed at a lunch between Haddad and Lula held on January 14th, about two weeks ago. The meeting lasted approximately three hours and included, in addition to the nomination to the Central Bank, conversations about the political landscape in São Paulo and other matters on the presidential agenda.

Behind the scenes, the initiative is interpreted as a move by the Finance Minister to occupy a strategic space in the Central Bank with someone aligned with his economic vision. Guilherme Mello currently heads the Economic Policy Secretariat, a central area of ​​the Finance Ministry responsible for preparing official projections of inflation, growth, and fiscal results that underpin government proposals and responses to external shocks.

The potential nomination comes in a context where two Central Bank directorates have remained vacant since the end of last year. One of them is the Directorate of Economic Policy, currently held on an interim basis by Paulo Picchetti, Director of International Affairs and Corporate Risk Management. This directorate is responsible for constructing the macroeconomic scenarios that guide decisions on the basic interest rate and for producing the main technical documents of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom).

The other open position is the Directorate of Financial System Organization and Resolution, an area that monitors the structure of the national financial system and conducts resolution processes for institutions. This position is currently being filled on an interim basis by Gilneu Vivan, Director of Regulation at the Central Bank.

Lula has already accepted nominations made by Haddad for the Central Bank on other occasions. One example cited by government aides is that of Gabriel Galípolo, who left the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance to assume a directorship at the Central Bank in 2023 and was subsequently chosen as president of the institution.

Members of the economic team believe that Guilherme Mello's profile, marked by a solid academic background and technical expertise, can contribute to improving communication between the Treasury and the Central Bank. The view within the Presidential Palace is that this closer relationship helps to support the discourse of coordination between fiscal and monetary policy.

This week, Haddad publicly praised the secretary. According to the minister, Mello "is among the economists who have most accurately predicted recent projections," highlighting his performance at the head of the Secretariat of Economic Policy.

If President Lula confirms the nomination, Guilherme Mello's name will still need to be submitted to a hearing and vote in the Federal Senate. The federal government and the Ministry of Finance were contacted but did not officially comment before the publication of this report.

At 42 years old, Guilherme Mello is an economist graduated from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). A specialist in macroeconomics, economic growth, and fiscal policy, he participated in the elaboration of economic proposals defended by the PT (Workers' Party) and established himself in the government as one of the main technical figures in Fernando Haddad's team, with a focus on building scenarios and designing public policies.