Lula pick for Brazil central bank chief won't face Senate hearing next week, senator says

Lula pick for Brazil central bank chief won't face Senate hearing next week, senator says

By Marcela Ayres, Bernardo Caram and Lisandra Paraguassu

Brazil's Senate Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) will not hold a confirmation hearing next week for the candidate chosen by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to head the central bank, the committee’s chair said.

"It can wait. It won’t happen next week, I guarantee that," Senator Vanderlan Cardoso told Reuters on Monday night.

"We need the right moment, when discussions between the Senate and the government are better. Right now, we’re in a slightly delicate moment," Cardoso said.

Cardoso emphasized that the government has yet to present any names for the central bank and suggested that the mood might be more favorable for the Senate to quickly approve the nominations after the first round of municipal elections in early October.

He also said that the government did not honor an agreement regarding a legislative decree that eases gun ownership rules, contributing to a sense of unease he believes could be resolved once the issue is settled.

In practice, the process is likely to take longer than the government initially suggested. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad mentioned in mid-August that the issue was on Lula’s agenda for "the coming weeks."

Government members told Reuters, on anonymity, that anticipating the nomination would effectively spotlight the next central bank chief, even though Lula's pick would only take office early next year, thereby diminishing the weight of statements from governor Roberto Campos Neto.

Lula, who has criticized Campos Neto multiple times since taking office last year, needs to appoint his substitute, along with the next directors of regulation and institutional relations, who also take office in January 2025.

Given the widespread expectation that current central bank monetary policy director Gabriel Galipolo will be chosen to head the central bank, the current vacancy in his role would also need to be filled in this reshuffle.

Two other sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the government is rethinking when Lula might unveil his appointments to the central bank's board after senators signaled that it would be better to wait, citing the reduced presence of senators in Brasilia due to the election period.

One of the sources said recent disputes between branches of government over the release of parliamentary appropriations could sour the mood for the confirmation hearings.