Tebet chooses economist Luciana Servo to be president of Ipea

The Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet (MDB), nominated economist Luciana Mendes Santos Servo this Friday (20) to chair Ipea (Institute for Applied Economic Research).

Servant of the institute since 1998, she is the first black woman to hold the post and has a history in projects in the public health area, such as “Prioriza SUS”, “Conta Satélite de Saúde” and “Conta SHA para o Brasil”.

She is the third woman to chair the institution. Aspásia Camargo (1993-1995) and Vanessa Petrelli Corrêa, who led the body on an interim basis in 2012, have already occupied the post. Servo holds a doctorate in economics from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) and a master’s degree in the area from USP (University of São Paulo). .

Tebet was being criticized for the lack of diversity in the team linked to Planning. Two weeks ago, when asked who her secretaries would be, the minister said that she would like to set up a different ministry, but that she had difficulty finding black women.

The following day, the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, said that she was “available” to Tebet to work on strategies to increase diversity in the composition of portfolios.

The economist also participated in the preparation of reports by the CMAP (Council for Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies), in a study that investigated the demand and supply of hospital beds and ventilation equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Ipea, she also collaborated in a work on municipal spending on primary health care.

His studies include a history of health financing and analyzes of health and safety at work in Brazil, as well as education, cost of living and regional inequality in the country.

She will replace Erik Figueiredo, appointed to the post during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and will have the mission to pacify the body again.

In December, the Sheet showed that Ipea employees accused the former president of the institute of covering up cases of moral harassment and political persecution in the institution, allegedly practiced by directors of the institution aligned with Jair Bolsonaro.

Another recent report showed that a study signed by the former president contested recent research that points to an increase in the number of Brazilians in a situation of food insecurity or hunger.

Now in the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) under the umbrella of the Ministry of Planning, Ipea was created in 1964, as the Office of Applied Economic Research.

The institute has seven departments and a technical body of researchers at its headquarters in Brasília and at its unit in Rio de Janeiro.

With research in different areas, the agency’s mission is to improve public policies for development.