March 2021 – Brazil – Rossetti Advogados

The House of Representatives passed, last February 11, bill No. 19 of 2019, which provides on the autonomy of the Central Bank of Brazil (BACEN).

The bill defines the criteria for admission, as well as the fixed terms of office of the BACEN president and directors, which do not coincide with the term of office of the President of the Republic, thus granting the independence of its decisions, without concerns about discharge or political pressure.

The text of the bill sets forth that the main purpose of BACEN is “to ensure price stability”, but it also provides that the autonomous government agency shall “care for the stability and efficiency of the financial system, soften the fluctuations of the economic activity level and foster full employment, without prejudice to its fundamental purpose”.

This reference increases the scope of the current actions of BACEN, granting it the so-called “double authority“, thus approximating it from the U.S. FED model, which observes not only the inflation, but  also the growth when formulating its policies.

With BACEN’s autonomy, the conduction of the monetary policy would be subject to less government intervention, which grants more credibility to the monetary authority, in addition to more predictability and stability in its conduction, without echoing political issues.

Therefore, a better control of inflation and attraction of investments to the country are expected.

The text of the approved bill now follows for sanction by the President.

For more information on the above or in other matters, please contact Maristela SA Rossetti (mar@rraa.com.br) or Gilberto Rossetti (gmr@rraa.com.br).

This article is based on publicly available information and given for informational purposes only. It is not intended as legal advice or as a comprehensive analysis of the matters referred to herein.

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