BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Senate committee hearing to confirm President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s pick to head Brazil’s central bank will not happen before the monetary authority’s next interest rate-setting meeting this month and is likely to be pushed until October.
Lula in late August appointed the central bank’s monetary policy director, Gabriel Galipolo, to be the institution’s next governor replacing Roberto Campos Neto, whose term ends in December.
The government expected to have Galipolo confirmed before the bank’s next monetary policy meeting on Sept. 17-18, aiming to increase the significance of his remarks as Campos Neto’s departure approaches.
But Vanderlan Cardoso, the senator who chairs the economic affairs committee and is responsible for setting a date for the hearing, said on Tuesday he would not schedule it for Sept. 10, as some government members had speculated.
Galipolo’s appointment must be confirmed by the economic affairs committee before going to the full Senate for approval for him to take the post in January.
Cardoso’s decision means that it will not be possible for Galipolo to receive green light before the policy meeting, as the central bank board faces a silent period running from the week before the meeting until the week after.
Lula’s Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha had said on Monday the government was working to have Galipolo confirmed by next week, likely on Sept. 10. But their hopes were shattered by Cardoso.
“There are still some doubts about the hearing, so I want to let you know that it will not happen on Sept. 10,” the senator said.
That also means the hearing will likely not happen until next month. Brazilians vote in local elections on Oct. 6, so most lawmakers will be out of Brasilia until then to help campaigning in their home states.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito; Writing by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
