Brazilian Economy Minister Cancels Attendance at IMF Annual Meeting

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Economy Minister Paulo Guedes has canceled his attendance at the annual meeting of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), which will be held this week in Washington, United States.

The minister was expected to arrive in the US capital on Wednesday night, October 16th, for the Fund’s meetings to be held from Thursday through Saturday, but members of the Brazilian government say that the economic team’s representative will now be the secretary of Foreign Trade, Marcos Troyjo. There are still no details on Guedes’ decision to abandon the meetings.

Allies of the Planalto claim that the minister may change his mind again at the last minute, but his public agenda this Wednesday already includes other events and meetings with senators in Brasília. The last of which, in the Palácio do Planalto, with the Presidential Chief of Staff, Onyx Lorenzoni, at 6:30 PM.

In Washington, Guedes would give the opening speech of an event on Friday, October 18th, at the Brazil-USA Chamber of Commerce, where he would speak to businessmen and investors. Entitled “Brazil Economic Conference”, the meeting has been held for twenty years and coincides with the annual meeting of the IMF in October.

A reception in honor of Guedes was also scheduled at the official residence of the Brazilian Embassy in Washington.

In addition to Troyjo, the president of BNDES, Gustavo Montezano, and the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, will also travel to the United States. They had already been planned for the Brazilian delegation when Guedes’ presence was still expected.

On Tuesday, October 15th, the IMF released a report in which it raised the Brazilian GDP projection in 2019 but stated that “more needs to be done” in terms of fiscal and structural reforms for Brazil to enter a path of economic growth.

Gita Gopinath, IMF’s chief economist, said that Brazil “recorded some recovery and improvement” in economic indicators this year, with emphasis on the progress of the pension reform in Congress. However, she said that the political uncertainties surrounding the project’s negotiation reflect negatively on the country’s figures and that completing the reforms is essential to overcome the crisis.

“The pension reform is in progress. That’s good, but that being said, more needs to be done,” Gopinath said at a press conference in Washington. “We hope that with more reforms, the outlook will improve”.

Source: Folhapress