Lula’s Party Backs Central Bank Chief Despite High Interest Rate

The head of Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s political party expressed support for central bank chief Gabriel Galipolo, even as high interest rates threaten to drag on the economy ahead of next year’s election.

With the benchmark Selic at a nearly two-decade high of 15%, most members of the leftist Workers’ Party believe it’s time to “enter a cycle of interest rate cuts,” Edinho Silva told reporters in Brasilia on Tuesday. Still, Silva praised Galipolo, who Lula appointed to lead the bank starting this year.