Campos Neto says that lack of ‘wide autonomy’ results in difficulties for BC

The president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, criticized this Tuesday (26) the lack of a “wider” autonomy for the institution and said that this condition translates into daily difficulties to manage it.

The statement comes amid the strike by Central Bank servers, only temporarily suspended until early next month to deepen negotiations. The so-called “standard operation” is maintained.

The decision was taken after a meeting of leaders of the movement with the president of the BC, on Monday (18), when Roberto Campos Neto told union representatives that the linear readjustment of 5% for all civil servants is a consensus between ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. by President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

Campos Neto participated this Tuesday (26) in a solemn session of the National Congress, in honor of the 105th anniversary of the birth of economist Roberto Campos, who was the grandfather of the president of the Central Bank.

The president of the institution spoke about his grandfather’s legacy, mentioning in particular the PAEG (Government Economic Action Plan), adopted during the first government of the military dictatorship period. One of the measures was precisely the autonomy of the Central Bank.

In February of last year, the National Congress concluded the processing of a bill that gave operational autonomy to the Central Bank – later sanctioned by President Jair Bolsonaro. However, the institution remains without financial and administrative autonomy.

“Specifically about the autonomy of the Central Bank, I would like to comment on my grandfather’s work. I mentioned earlier the banking reform promoted by the PAEG, in 1964. In fact, Roberto Campos was one of the main responsible for the creation of the Central Bank and a great defender of its autonomy. Law 4595, of 1964, which created the Central Bank, guaranteed operational, financial and administrative autonomy, including a fixed term of office for its presidents and directors”, said Campos Neto, who at that moment stopped reading from the speech to speak impromptu.

“Unfortunately, this autonomy, which is modern even by today’s standards, only lasted until 1967. And then, looking at my grandfather’s notes from the period, he said why it was important to have the three autonomies and what would cause having an autonomy without have the others. Today we live there the reality of having operational autonomy without having administrative and financial autonomy and we see the daily difficulty of running the Central Bank without having a broader autonomy”, he added.

Campos Neto later stated that Brazil is moving in the “direction of the model idealized by Roberto Campos”.

Also present at the event, the head of the Special Advisory for Strategic Affairs of the Ministry of Economy, Adolfo Sachsida, also praised the PAEG and the economic miracle – a period of strong economic growth in Brazil, during the 1970s, which was followed by high inflation and indebtedness.

Sachsida said that the Jair Bolsonaro government follows the example of the PAEG, being based on an economic binomial: fiscal consolidation and pro-market reforms. This model, she argues, will provide a decade of prosperity for Brazil.

Minister Paulo Guedes’ team member (Economy) also said that Brazil has become the “great safe haven for global investment”.

“Like the PAEG, conceived by his grandfather [Roberto Campos]leveraged the economic miracle of the 1970s, the economic binomial that this president Jair Bolsonaro, that this economic team, led by minister Paulo Guedes, and that this Congress decisively supported, are leveraging the foundations for a next decade of prosperity in Brazil “, he stated.