The president (PT) discussed with the government leadership answers to what they identify as sources of political and electoral wear and tear: high family debt and corruption scandals.
During a meeting on Wednesday night (18), at Palácio do Planalto, Lula and his ministers recognized that Brazilians’ level of debt would neutralize the government’s efforts to achieve a sense of social well-being, such as readjusting the minimum wage and increasing the Income Tax exemption range.
At the meeting, the interest rate charged by was, once again, the target of criticism. The following day, Lula publicly complained about monetary policy, expressing frustration with the reduction of just 0.25 percentage points, to 14.75%, in the Selic rate by the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee). The president expected the rate to be at 14% at this point in the year.
Lula also said that the case is a “servant’s egg” in the management of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Roberto Campos Neto as head of the BC.
The meeting participants also admitted that, although inherited from past administrations and investigated in their government, the Master corruption scandals and INSS (National Social Security Institute) frauds are falling to Lula’s account.
The president, according to reports, expresses frustration with the wear and tear suffered by fraud involving his opponents and which only came to light thanks to investigations encouraged by him at the (Comptroller General of the Union), and at the BC.
Lula and his assistants recognized the difficulty of combating the Bolsonarist communication strategy, which uses the developments of the investigations to assert that the government is a scene of corruption, which has helped the pre-candidate for the PL Presidency, senator Flávio Bolsonaro, to advance in the electoral polls.
The meeting participants defended the need to reiterate that the Master and INSS scandals originated in the Bolsonaro administration.
In the assessment of one participant, the work to combat corruption carried out by the Federal Police, Central Bank and CGU has not been converted into a political asset. The diagnosis is that communication is failing to show that the government is acting against fraud.
Present at the meeting, the minister of Secom, Sidônio Palmeira, responded to the assessment, claiming that reacting to these attacks is not the task of a government’s official communication. Despite being called to discuss a government agenda, the meeting ended with this analysis of the political situation.
In addition to criticism of interest rates, there is also frustration in the government with the BC president’s non-adherence to the strategy of holding his predecessor in office, Roberto Campos Neto, responsible for the Master crisis.
Since the announcement of the purchase of Master by BRB (Bank of Brasília), Galípolo has not at any time endorsed the criticism of Campos Neto, led by the former Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT).
The disappointment with Galípolo also extends to the general director of the PF, Andrei Rodrigues, and the minister of the CGU, Vinicius Carvalho. Lula was upset that Carvalho had not communicated in advance about the fraud involving discounts for INSS retirees, which became public in 2025, so that the government could adopt measures more quickly.
In the case of the PF, allies of the president often criticize the leaking of information by agents of the corporation, with the aim of affecting the government. They see the action of Bolsonaristas in the PF to wear down the president.
Members of the Federal Police assess, however, that the government does not know how to use the Master’s investigation efficiently in favor of its popularity.
In an interview with Sheet last week, lawyer Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, coordinator of the , expressed the opinion of palace ministers by harshly criticizing the work of the PF and in defense Fábio Luís Lula da Silva, the president’s son, who has been investigated for alleged links with the frauds of the .
A friend of Lula, the lawyer said that the PF is in dispute. But he believes that Andrei Rodrigues “will take very energetic measures to get rid of these elements that call the institution’s credibility into question.”
Wanted by Sheetthe head of the PF said that the body operates with technical autonomy and independence, guaranteed since the first day of government by the President of the Republic. “The fight against corruption is a guideline of the federal government, which has reaffirmed the importance of the Federal Police’s firm action in this area. Investigations are conducted based on the law, with responsibility and respect for due legal process”, he stated.
Defenders of the BC’s policy believe that the war in Iran has shown that criticism within the government of the caution in reducing interest rates has aged quickly with the effects of the rise in oil prices on the world economy.
Questioned by SheetBC and CGU did not comment.
