Central Bank's Failure To Control Inflation Irks Bolsonaro

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has begun expressing irritation at the central bank’s newfound autonomy as surging inflation presents a threat to his 2022 reelection prospects, government officials told Debora Alvares and David Biller of the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: The State Office in Washington D.C., United States (placed in the photo)

On Thursday, during a flight home from Mato Grosso state, Bolsonaro said he regretted signing the bill into law earlier this year that granted the bank autonomy, a high-level official aboard told AP.

Separately, Bolsonaro on several recent occasions has expressed discomfort with the autonomy and said he would like to interfere in monetary policy, a minister who has heard such complaints himself told AP. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

The law passed in February sought to protect the bank from political meddling and burnish Brazil’s economic credibility among investors. Under the law’s terms, the president still nominates the central bank chief, but cannot fire him for disagreements about monetary policy. Lately, Bolsonaro has said he wants the central bank chief impeached.

Bolsonaro in 2018 provided assurances that he would remain hands-off in economic policymaking, and the market celebrated his pick to lead the central bank: economist and former trader Roberto Campos Neto, who began a fixed four-year term in April.

Neither the office of the presidency nor the central bank responded to requests for comment about Bolsonaro’s statements. Following the story’s publication, Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, wrote on Twitter that there is no crisis between Bolsonaro and Campos Neto.

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