SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday there is always room to cut government spending, after his remarks this week pushing against spending cuts had weighed down the real.
In an interview with a local radio station, Lula said the government intends to cut social benefits from people who are ineligible, but reaffirmed there is no intention of reducing social-benefit programs in general.
Lula also dubbed the central bank’s monetary policy director, Gabriel Galipolo, “a golden boy”, saying he has the qualifications to be chief of the monetary authority.
However, Lula clarified he has not spoken with Galipolo about the job, adding that he is in no rush to name the next central bank chief.
Galipolo, who is seen as close to the government after previously working for the finance minister, is expected to be one the main candidates for the job.
The term of Brazil’s current central-bank chief Roberto Campos Neto — who has been a target of Lula’s criticism amid high interest rates — ends later this year.
(Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Leslie Adler and Rod Nickel)
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