Campos Neto declined to say whether the central bank's fiscal projections are close to those of the government. (Image: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
The president of Banco Central, Roberto Campos Netosaid this Thursday (26) that the recent increase in premiums on the forward curve can be explained by the perception of lower fiscal transparency by the government, but that the situation is not so bad compared to other countries.
On Friday (20) and Monday (23), the fees of the DIs (Interbank Deposits) with longer terms saw firm increases, with the market incorporating more premiums into the curve amid doubts about the capacity of the Lula government in balancing public accounts.
Last Tuesday (24), Campos Neto himself stated that this increase in risk premium seemed “exaggerated” due to the country’s fiscal figures.
Asked this Thursday whether the “exaggeration” had already been removed from the curve in recent days, Campos Neto limited himself to explaining his view on the recent movement.
“What I said is that we had the perception that the market seemed uncomfortable with fiscal transparency, which generated risk aversion,” commented Campos Neto during a press conference in São Paulo.
According to him, when comparing Brazil's data with that of other emerging countries, it is possible to notice fiscal expansion, but domestic numbers are not much worse.
“That increase in premiums can be explained by the perception of less fiscal transparency,” said Campos Neto, adding that the situation compared to other countries was not “so bad.”
During the press conference, Campos Neto also avoided saying whether the BC's fiscal projections are close to those of the government — more optimistic about meeting the fiscal target — or those of the market, which has projected larger primary deficits.
He recalled that the BC does not publish fiscal projections, but emphasized that the agency follows international criteria to calculate the data.
The BC published its Inflation Report this Thursday morning, with projections for economic variables such as price indexes, Gross Domestic Product, credit and external accounts.