Bloomberg — Brazil’s presidential front-runner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the profile of his economy minister if he is elected for a third term in October: The person may be an economist, a lawyer, a physician, but needs to think politically and not be a bureaucrat.
“What I want is a person with political vision and political versatility,” he said Wednesday in an interview with a local website.
Investors, who seek reassurances that Lula would pursue business-friendly policies if elected, have been eager to know who his finance chief would be. The interview marks the first time Lula has elaborated on the characteristics he’s seeking in the person who would be handed the mission to increase government spending while convincing investors that Latin America’s largest economy remains on a sound fiscal path.
The leftist former president pledged to resume a large infrastructure program to boost growth and to revive a planning ministry to organize the government budget and public works across the country.
Lula also criticized the spending cap law that limits government expenditures to the rate of inflation, saying he does not need such a rule because he was never irresponsible when handling public finances.
He reaffirmed plans to change the pricing policy of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the state-owned oil giant that became a target of criticism by President Jair Bolsonaro when it raised fuel prices earlier in the year, adding to inflation that’s eroding his popularity. Unlike Bolsonaro, however, Lula vehemently opposes the company’s privatization.
At 76 years old, Lula said that he doesn’t think about running for a fourth term if elected this year.
“I will be too old, I’ll be 81.”
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