"It looks like a papal conclave," says the Minister of Social Security regarding the Central Bank's autonomy.
“They have an orthodox view of the economy. They don’t listen to anyone. It’s like a papal conclave,” Lupi reacted to the Copom’s decision to maintain the Selic rate at 13,75%.
247 - The Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, criticized the autonomy regime of the Central Bank. Lupi stated that he finds it "absurd" that the head of the state-owned bank does not have a fixed term.
“It would have to coincide with the term of the elected president. Because then it creates an economic policy dissociated from the voice of the ballot box. Then at the end of the year Bolsonaro made the change to this guy [Roberto Campos Neto] until the end of 2024. It's as if there were ministers of state with a fixed term as well,” he said.
Lupi's statement is a reaction to the bank's stance, which ignored the government's requests to lower the benchmark interest rate and maintained the Selic rate at 13,75%, hindering the country's development.
The minister also complained about the Central Bank's lack of openness to discussing the direction of the economy.
“They have an orthodox view of the economy. They don't listen to anyone. It's like a papal conclave. Who are they to do this to Brazilian society? Nobody there is a saint. The Central Bank is Brazil's conclave,” he concluded.