Banker André Esteves, owner of BTG Pactual, met with several bankers and investment houses in recent weeks to try to reduce as much as possible the financial market’s resistance to Fernando Haddad in charge of the Treasury.
When contacted, Esteves declined to comment. Esteves is one of Lula’s closest businessmen. Advisors to the president-elect claim that he signaled the need for a kind of “waiver” from the market (license, in financial jargon) for Haddad.
He wants to announce the name of the petista at the Treasury without the economic indicators —Bolse and future interest rates— suffering a sharp drop.
Since then, Esteves began to meet privately with industry executives. The column heard from four of them, on condition of anonymity.
In the conversations, what was said is that the president-elect is betting on a strong recovery of the economy at the beginning of his term and that Haddad will be able to surf this wave. Esteves sent the message, according to reports, that there is no reason to worry.
Behind the scenes, however, they disagree. They believe that there will be many points of tension in the economic team, in case Haddad is appointed – which would occur after the graduation, scheduled for next Monday (12).
The banker also sought out his main clients (large investors) and partners — a movement that began about two weeks ago, before lunch at the headquarters of Febraban, the federation of banks, in São Paulo.
Haddad went to the event representing Lula, who was unable to attend and was treated with ministerial honors. Lula’s advisers claim that Esteves’ dialogue with Haddad has been direct.
The scenario presented to the bankers indicates that a movement to empower the former mayor of São Paulo is underway.
The reasons, in the assessment of the executives, would be more political than government.
Lula is in a dilemma: he doesn’t have a strong PT politician (and a good one with votes) to succeed him. Another problem is that Guilherme Boulos (PSOL-SP) has been standing out as an exponent on the left and Lula wants to try to neutralize him in the 2026 elections.
Julio Wiziack (interim) with Paulo Ricardo Martins and Diego Felix
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