Lula says the Central Bank will also have to have growth and employment targets.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Former president and presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) argued on Tuesday that the Central Bank should establish targets for economic growth and job creation, in addition to acting to control inflation, and said that if elected, he will speak with the president of the monetary authority, Roberto Campos Neto.

"The Central Bank's purpose is to control inflation, and the only mechanism it has is to raise interest rates. We need to create another mechanism; the Central Bank needs to assume another responsibility. The same bank that has the power to set taxes and the inflation target needs to set the economic growth target and the job creation target that we will achieve," said the Workers' Party member in an interview with SBT.

"We will talk to the president of the Central Bank, he is certainly a reasonable person to talk to, he is a competent economist and we will talk," added the former president about Campos Neto, who has a term to fulfill at the head of the Central Bank until December 31, 2024.

Lula leads in the polls and has a chance to win the election in the first round on Sunday.

In the interview, the former president criticized his main opponent in the election race, President and reelection candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PL), for targeting the ICMS tax on fuels to reduce prices.

The Workers' Party member said he has no intention of interfering with policies that are the prerogative of the states -- such as the ICMS tax -- and stated that to reduce fuel prices he intends to address what he considers the source of the problem: Petrobras' pricing policy.

The former president also reaffirmed his commitment to promoting tax reform if elected, arguing that the wealthiest must pay "a little more."

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