Paulo Trevisani – The Wall Street Journal, 06/13/2016
BRASÍLIA—Brazil’s central bank Monday inaugurated a new leader to deal with an old challenge: taming stubborn inflation amid a shaky economy and political chaos.
Private-sector economist Ilan Goldfajn took over the post from Alexandre Tombini in an hour-long ceremony at the bank’s imposing building here. An appointee of Brazil’s suspended President Dilma Rousseff, Mr. Tombini had held the job since January 2011. On his watch, Brazil never met its 4.5% annual inflation target, as the figure stayed significantly above that level even as the economy ground to a halt in the past few years.
Mr. Goldfajn, 50 years old, was appointed by acting President Michel Temer, who will serve out Ms. Rousseff’s term if she is ousted. Mr. Goldfajn—a U.S.-educated economist who for the past decade led the economic-research department at Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private-sector bank—has pledged to meet the nation’s inflation target, without giving a time frame, even as prices are rising at a 9.3% pace, as of May.
