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Economics

A Presidential Bid by Brazil’s Finance Minister Is on Hold, for Now

  • Analyst: booming economy needed to support Meirelles candidacy
  • Government approval rating currently at record-low 3 percent
Henrique Meirelles speaks during an interview in New York, on Sept. 20, 2017.

Henrique Meirelles speaks during an interview in New York, on Sept. 20, 2017.

Photographer: Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg
Updated on

Brazil’s Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles wants to throw his name into next year’s presidential race but realized there are still too many unknowns to do so now, according to five people with knowledge of his thinking.

Meirelles will only bid for the country’s top job with a stronger economic recovery, a coherent strategy to deal with near-zero government approval ratings, and more certainty that the current front-runner, former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, won’t run.