Henrique Meirelles will resign as finance minister next month and likely run for office, according to local press reports.
In an interview with Broadcast Político on Friday, President Michel Temer confirmed that Meirelles would leave the ministry in the next few days, but he added that he has not yet decided on a replacement.
The Brazilian press reported that Temer could appoint Manuseto Almeida or Eduardo Guardia to substitute Meirelles.
Meirelles could run for president as a candidate on the MDB Ticket, or he could campaign as vice president for Temer if the current president runs for election. Temer took office in August 2016, after the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff.
Meirelles would join the PSDB’s presidential contender Geraldo Alckmin as a centrist candidate in the campaign, but both are polling in the single digits ahead of the October election. The far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro scores around 20% in the latest polls, while former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads with roughly 30% to 35%, despite a corruption conviction that has kept him off the ballot.
“The field for October’s elections is now starting to take shape, but the early polls suggest that the market-friendly candidates will face an uphill struggle,” Neil Shearing, the chief economist on emerging markets at Capital Economics, said in a note.
Temer said in an interview last week with the magazine IstoÉ that it would be “cowardice” for him not to run for president. His administration, however, has a 6% approval rating, up from 3% three months ago, according to the polling firm Ibope. LF