Lula’s Central Banker Returns to Take on Hardest Job of His Life
- Temer chooses banking veteran as his finance minister
- Meirelles inherits a deep recession and soaring deficit
The Big Challenges Facing Brazil's Michel Temer
Henrique Meirelles is one of Brazil’s most accomplished financial officials, a former president of BankBoston Corp. and President of the Central Bank during the country’s acclaimed period of growth and stability. But he will have to deliver fast to pull the nation out of its worst recession in a century and win back investor confidence.
Meirelles, who slashed inflation when he was central bank chief for most of last decade, was appointed finance minister on Thursday by Michel Temer, the man who became acting president after Dilma Rousseff was temporarily removed to face an impeachment trial. Having had a foot in several political parties, Meirelles is seen as someone who can build consensus in Congress for the kinds of spending cuts that analysts say are needed to tame the deficit, slow inflation and lure back investors. He’s scheduled to hold his first press conference late Friday morning.