PT national leadership wants Campos Neto to explain himself in the Chamber

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The PT’s national directory approved an orientation for the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, to be called by the party’s benches to explain, in the National Congress, the BC’s monetary policy.

The theme was discussed at the meeting of the party’s national directory, which took place this Monday (13) in Brasília.

“We removed the PT’s position to summon the president of the BC to make an explanation to the National Congress. After all, he is going to Roda Viva and other TV channels, it is important that he also go to the National Congress”, said the president of the PT, Gleisi Hoffmann , after the meeting.

Despite the formal recommendation of the party’s national directory, the leader of the PT in the Chamber, Zeca Dirceu, stated that the bench has no power to convene – and that an invitation would be made to Campos Neto.

In the first case, the authority is obliged to go, which does not happen in the second case. “You can have an agreement in the house for invitation, as long as [Campos Neto] accept the invitation”, evaluated Gleisi.

“It’s reasonable that it’s an invitation. It’s not worth arguing about,” said Zeca Dirceu.

He recalled that when he was in the opposition, the PT used to propose invitations to the authorities and stated that the important thing is for Campos Neto to speak with the deputies.

The PT president also spoke about the possibility of the party trying to articulate the departure of Campos Neto before the end of his mandate. According to Hoffmann “even with a mandate, nobody is immovable”.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and the PT have been in open conflict with the monetary authority since the Central Bank decided to keep interest rates at 13.75% per annum at the last Copom meeting held at the beginning of the month.

“Most countries have higher inflation than Brazil and negative interest rates. Why is Brazil going against the grain?” asked Hoffmann.

Lula made a similar assessment when he swore in Aloizio Mercadante as president of the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development), on February 5th.

“There is no justification for the interest rate to be at 13.5% [a Selic está em 13,75% ao ano]. Just look at the Copom letter to let us know that this interest rate increase is shameful,” he said at the time.

For Gleisi, what happens “often is that there is speculation about future interest rates to increase the value of debt securities and earn in the financial market”.

In addition to the issue of interest and inflation, the PT also highlighted at the meeting the importance of raising the minimum wage, readjusting the Income Tax table and launching a program to renegotiate debts. The last three topics are already under analysis by the Planalto Palace.

The PT also wants to “discuss issues that are important to us, such as, for example, the resumption of Eletrobras to the command of the Brazilian State because it is an instrument of development”, said Gleisi.

Another topic highlighted by her was “the review of Petrobras’ international price parity policy”.

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