Ilan Goldfajn confirmed as new Brazil Central Bank governor

The Senate floor approved the nomination of economist Ilan Goldfajn as Central Bank governor Tuesday (Jun 7), by 56 votes to 13.

Among senators opposing his nomination was Lindbergh Farias of the Workers' Party (PT), who criticized the government of interim President Michel Temer for making early changes to the Central Bank's leadership before the impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff even reach a conclusion.

On the supporters' side, Senator Aécio Neves (PSDB) noted that Goldfajn was one of the few consensus-driving nominations in Temer's administration. “In my view, his confirmation by this Senate is an extremely positive indication that we are headed toward something crucial for our economic policy that we had lost in recent years: predictability, a degree of certainty about which direction to go, which path to take in running the guardian of our currency—the Central Bank,” he said.

Inflation

Ilan Goldfajn stood a confirmation hearing earlier yesterday before the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, which approved his nomination by a 19-8 vote. He promised a strict anti-inflation policy and the Central Bank's efforts to bring inflation down to the 4.5% annual target set by the National Monetary Council (CMN).

Translated by Mayra Borges