Brazil: Lula da Silva announces Mercadante as president of BNDES

By Mariana Haubert

The president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), announced this Tuesday (13 Dec 2022) that the former minister Aloizio Mercadante will be the new president of the BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development).

According to Lula da Silva, the choice is based on the need for “someone who thinks about development”.

“I, Aloizio Mercadante, saw some criticism about rumors that you are going to be president of the BNDES. I wanted to tell you that it’s not a rumor anymore. Aloizio Mercadante will be president of BNDES. We need someone who thinks about development, someone who thinks about re-industrializing this country, someone who thinks about technological innovation, someone who thinks about generating financing for small, medium and large entrepreneurs so that this country can once again generate jobs”, said Lula da Silva.

The president-elect confirmed the nomination during a speech at the closing event of the works carried out by the members of the transition technical groups, at the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil).

Lula da Silva also criticized the eventual negative reactions of the financial market to the decisions of the assembly of his new government, as with Mercadante and with the future finance minister, Fernando Haddad.

“I wanted to say to the market, the glorious market, which often seems invisible. When trying to judge what we are doing, say if at some point in the life of the Brazilian market you made as much money as you did from 2003 to 2008, when I was president of that country. Ask agribusiness, industry entrepreneurs, bankers, but also ask bankers, shopkeepers, people who earn one minimum wage, because we have proven that it is possible to govern for everyone, truly,” he said.

The president-elect also said that GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth is not “a number to be used in a newspaper headline”. “It only makes sense if we distribute it to those who helped with growth, who are the working people of this country,” he said.

The possibility of Mercadante being appointed to the BNDES, reported by media outlets over the weekend, was not well received by the market on Monday (12 Dec 2022).

Mercadante was the coordinator of Lula da Silva’s government plan during the presidential campaign and coordinated the technical work of the transitional government.

With information from Poder360

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