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Montevideo, April 24th 2024 - 02:09 UTC

 

 

Rousseff picks Barbosa as finance minister, a strong critic of Levy and austerity

Saturday, December 19th 2015 - 06:39 UTC
Full article 107 comments
Barbosa was planning minister and has been one of the strongest opponents of the aggressive austerity drive by Levy to balance the budget Barbosa was planning minister and has been one of the strongest opponents of the aggressive austerity drive by Levy to balance the budget
Rousseff has watered down Levy's push for austerity, the latest sign that she could abandon market-friendly policies to gain support from her leftist allies Rousseff has watered down Levy's push for austerity, the latest sign that she could abandon market-friendly policies to gain support from her leftist allies
Levy, who had been in his post for nearly a year, clashed repeatedly with Rousseff over budget cuts needed to shore up the country's budget. Levy, who had been in his post for nearly a year, clashed repeatedly with Rousseff over budget cuts needed to shore up the country's budget.
Barbosa is considered an economist in much the same mold as Rousseff and his appointment will be interpreted as a return of the 'old' spending policies Barbosa is considered an economist in much the same mold as Rousseff and his appointment will be interpreted as a return of the 'old' spending policies

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Friday picked her close aide Nelson Barbosa, a left-leaning economist, to take over the finance ministry from Joaquim Levy who is leaving after a series of disagreements over economic policy.

 Barbosa, currently the planning minister, has been one of the strongest opponents of the aggressive austerity drive that Levy led in an attempt to regain the confidence of investors in an economy mired in its worst recession in a quarter of a century.

Faced with the threat of impeachment by her opponents, Rousseff has watered down Levy's push for austerity, the latest sign that she could abandon market-friendly policies to gain support from her leftist allies in Congress.

Levy, who had been in his post for nearly a year, clashed repeatedly with Rousseff over budget cuts needed to shore up the country's budget.

Barbosa is considered an economist in much the same mold as Rousseff and his appointment will be interpreted as a return of the policies blamed by critics for sinking Latin America's largest economy into recession this year.

Barbosa served as Executive Secretary at Brazil’s Ministry of Finance from 2011 to 2013. He holds a PhD in Economics (“Essays on Structuralist Macroeconomics”, 2001) from the New School for Social Research in New York and a Master’s degree and BA in Economics from the Federal University of Rio do Janeiro.

Prior to his position as Executive Secretary at Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, Barbosa held several positions within the federal government. He was Secretary for Economic Issues (2007-2008) and Deputy Secretary for Economic Policy at the Ministry of Finance. He was also the Chairman at Bank of Brazil (2009-2013), and a member of the board of Vale SA (2011-2013). His experiences within the government level includes positions at the Central Bank (1994-1997), National Development Bank (2005-2006) and Ministry of Planning (2003).

Categories: Economy, Politics, Brazil.
Tags: Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, Joaquim Levy, Nelson Barbosa.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Skip

    At least he is educated. However there's little money to spend his way out of this deep recession.

    Another nail in Dilma's coffin.

    Dec 19th, 2015 - 08:12 am 0
  • ChrisR

    It seems that FatAss Dilma doesn't know what to do about the finance post.

    First we had The Liar Mantega who single-handedly drove the international investors away when he lied about the returns rate on the investments they has stumped up and it all went downhill after that.

    Then she ignored appointing his assistant who did know what he was doing but left TLM because he couldn't work for a liar: another wrong move.

    Then Levy tried his best to rein in the profligate spending (outside of agreed limits spending) and he fell foul of the crooks who are bleeding the country dry.

    NOW she has appointed a “spend it while we have it” guy.

    Deckchairs on the Titanic, rearranging of, moment?

    Dec 19th, 2015 - 11:18 am 0
  • Brasileiro

    Why all of you forget that Brazil has an incalculable fortune in foreign?

    Brazil lost the investment grade. So why keep 370 billion dollars in the United States?

    The Brazilian government is very rich only Levy and Tombini not know it.

    The Brazilian government has to bring back the 2 trillion reais it has abroad, pay most of the domestic debt, reduce interest rates to 4% and promote the development of our country.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R7Rph5c10o&list=LLmXPTu1f8AdGlizWNiASx2A&index=61

    Dec 19th, 2015 - 12:37 pm 0
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