“I never suffered any pressure”, says Galípolo about his relationship with Lula

The director of Monetary Policy at the Central Bank (BC), Gabriel Galípolostated, this Tuesday (8), that he “never” suffered any pressure from the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) about his role in the monetary authority.

Galípolo, who was executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance (number 2 in the administration of Fernando Haddad, from the PT), was appointed by Lula to the BC’s Monetary Policy directorate and, more recently, to the presidency of the BC.

The economist’s statements were made during a hearing promoted by the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE). Galípolo needs to have its name approved by both the CAE and the Senate plenary, which should happen this Tuesday.

Read everything about the Galípolo hearing:

• “BC does not have any type of attribution regarding betting regulation”, says Galípolo
• Inflation: Galípolo talks about “prudence” and says that de-anchoring “still bothers” BC
• Galípolo: Central Bank should not “turn its back on democratically elected power”
• Galípolo: “My relationship with Lula and Roberto Campos Neto is the best possible”
• Galípolo says he will have total “freedom” at BC: “Great honor and responsibility”
• Galípolo Senate is scheduled to vote on the nomination in plenary this 3rd

If he is approved by the senators, Galípolo will succeed the current president of the BC, Roberto Campos Neto, whose term ends on December 31, 2024.

“The truth is that I never suffered any pressure. I never felt pressure. It would be very frivolous of me to say that President Lula put any pressure on me in any type of decision”, assured Galípolo.

“The BC’s legal mandate is this. All the requests and recommendations I received, including from you (senators), were to make decisions according to our conscience. The day you start making decisions outside of your conscience, you will start piling up mistakes’, said the economist.

“I sleep very well thanks to this. They are always decisions according to my conscience.”

Nomination for BC presidency

In February 2021, then-president Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned the project that gave autonomy to the BC and, thus, limited the Executive’s influence on decisions related to monetary policy.

According to the rule in force since then, the terms of office of the head of the BC and the head of the Planalto Palace are no longer the same. The president of the bank, therefore, always takes office on the first business day of the third year of each government. As a result, the head of the federal Executive will only be able to make a change in command of the monetary authority from the third year of management. The term of office of the current president of the BC, Roberto Campos Neto, ends on December 31, 2024.

Who is Gabriel Galípolo

Gabriel Galípolo has a degree in Economic Sciences and a master’s degree in Political Economy from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP), an institution where he was also a professor in undergraduate courses, from 2006 to 2012. Find out more about Lula’s presidential nomination BC by clicking here.

In addition, he taught at the PPP and Concessions MBA at FESPSP (São Paulo School of Sociology and Politics Foundation). He is also a senior researcher at the Brazilian Center for International Relations (Cebri).

His time in public administration began in 2007, during the government of José Serra (PSDB) in São Paulo. That year, the economist headed the Economic Advisory Department of the Secretariat of Metropolitan Transport and, in 2008, he was director of the Project Structuring Unit of the Secretariat of Economy and Planning of the state of São Paulo.

From 2017 to 2021, Galípolo was president of Fator bank, an institution with expertise in public-private partnerships and privatization programs. During his work at the bank, he conducted studies for the privatization of the Companhia Estadual de Águas e Esgotos do Rio de Janeiro (Cedae), a process that began in 2018. In 2021, the Fator bank and BNDES led the auction of the state-owned company, an operation which raised R$22.6 billion from the sale of three of the four blocks offered.

As number 2 in the Ministry of Finance under Fernando Haddad (PT), Galípolo had the difficult task of managing an initial hole of around R$300 billion in public coffers and accommodating a growing demand for public policies and social program promises made in the campaign.

A few months after taking over as executive secretary of the department, Galípolo left the position to join the board of directors of the Central Bank (BC), as recommended by Haddad and Lula. Its debut at the Copom “coincided” with the first drop in the Selic since the basic rate hike cycle began in March 2021.