© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Sao Paulo Governor candidate Fernando Haddad react at an election night time gathering on the day of the Brazilian presidential election run-off, in Sao Paulo, Brazi
By Lisandra Paraguassu and Marcela Ayres
BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday picked former Sao Paulo Mayor Fernando Haddad as his finance minister, ending days of hypothesis about certainly one of his key ministerial appointments.
Lula is about to take workplace on Jan. 1 after defeating incumbent far-right chief Jair Bolsonaro in October.
Lula selected profession diplomat Mauro Vieira as international minister, former Congressman Jose Mucio as protection minister, Bahia Governor Rui Costa as chief of workers and the previous governor of Maranhao state Flavio Dino as justice minister.
After the announcement of Haddad as finance minister, Brazil’s actual weakened as a lot as 1.3% towards the greenback, earlier than paring losses to commerce down 0.9%. Benchmark inventory index was buying and selling up 0.3%.
Buyers have anxiously awaited Lula’s option to run the financial system, unsettled by his announcement of a multi-billion proposal to extend social spending from subsequent yr.
The proposal has already been authorised within the Senate, however nonetheless must be voted on within the decrease home.
Haddad advised reporters on Friday he has began to assemble his staff however wouldn’t announce any names instantly.
A lawyer with a grasp’s diploma in economics and a doctorate in philosophy, Haddad’s identify has been making the rounds for weeks as the long run finance minister.
Though he’s seen as a average inside Lula’s leftist Staff Get together (PT), traders fear about rampant social spending and a scarcity of fiscal self-discipline.
Because the mayor of Brazil’s largest metropolis, Sao Paulo, from 2013 to 2016, Haddad renegotiated town’s debt with the federal authorities, lowering it by about 50 billion reais and gaining funding grade.
Since dropping his re-election bid as mayor in 2016, he has described himself as a school professor on Twitter.
Haddad’s relationship with Lula grew in the course of the 2018 presidential marketing campaign, when he was the PT candidate after Lula was barred from the race by graft convictions that have been later overturned.
He has acknowledged the risks of debt, however has argued that public spending can have a multiplier impact on financial development whereas distributing revenue in society.
Haddad has additionally defended adjustments to taxes on revenue and wealth and the adoption of a value-added tax on consumption.