Lula Slams Brazil’s Central Bank as House Speaker Urges Truce

Daniel Carvalho and Maria Eloisa Capurro
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s lower house Speaker Arthur Lira called for peace between the government and the central bank after it signaled no interest rate cut in the short term, while President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva renewed criticism of the autonomous monetary authority and its chief.

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Lira, who retains great influence over lawmakers, said on Thursday that the government needs calm to debate key themes in congress, including new fiscal rules that are crucial to ease investors’ concerns about public finances and to lower inflation expectations.

“We need an armistice so the finance minister, the central bank president, the executive branch and congress may debate the new fiscal framework once Lula returns” from his trip to China, he told reporters.

Policymakers led by Roberto Campos Neto held interest rates steady at 13.75% on Wednesday night for the fifth straight time, issuing a tough post-meeting statement that kept the possibility of an additional rate hike on the table. The decision generated more backlash from Lula and his allies, who have argued that borrowing costs that remain at a six-year high are hindering economic growth.

Read more: Brazil Central Bank Bucks Lula’s Pressure With Hawkish Rate Hold

“I say it every day: There is no explanation for any human being on planet Earth for the interest rate in Brazil to be at 13.75%,” Lula told reporters in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.

Campos Neto, he said, “needs to take care of monetary policy, but he also needs to take care of employment, inflation and peoples’ incomes. Everyone knows he’s not doing it. If he were doing it, I wouldn’t be complaining.”

Fiscal Anxiety

In their statement, central bank board members said they remain concerned about inflation expectations that continue to rise further above target. Finance Minister Fernando Haddad had sought to calm those anxieties in the weeks prior to the meeting, speeding up efforts to finalize the new fiscal framework that may provide more certainty about public spending and debt levels.

Internal debates over key aspects of the plan, however, delayed its release. The central bank couldn’t alter its strategy based on a proposal that “hasn’t even been presented,” Lira said.

“If the text is presented, it is good and congress votes on it, the monetary policy board will have basis to signal a responsible interest rate cut,” he added.

Read More: Lula’s Cabinet Members Clash Over Plan to Shore Up Budget

Investors are scrapping their bets on rate cuts beginning as early as June. Swap rates, which indicate market expectations for monetary policy, rose on the contract due on January 2024 as much as 20 basis points in Thursday morning trading.

Several of Lula’s cabinet members also criticized the bank’s decision, but Planning Minister Simone Tebet joined Lira in trying to ease tensions in the capital.

It is best to wait to react until minutes of the meeting are published next Tuesday, Tebet told reporters, adding that she hopes central bankers will explain their decision in a “fair” and “impartial” way.

(Updates with Lula comments and other details starting in fourth graph)

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