Brazil: Lula Halts Privatization of State Companies

By Staff, Agencies

Brazil’s newly returned President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has scrapped plans to sell off eight state-run corporate giants, including the oil company Petroleo Brasileiro, known as Petrobras.

Lula, who was at the helm from 2003 through 2010, was sworn in as Brazil’s president on January 1. Imprisoned for graft in 2018, Lula's convictions were overturned in 2019, allowing him to defeat Jair Bolsonaro in October's election.

The decision to remove state corporations from the list of state asset sales was one of the first official acts by the left-wing politician.

The returning president has called for “ensuring a rigorous analysis of the impacts of privatization on the public service or on the market,” adding that state banks and major oil companies such as Petrobras would play a “key role” in the new economic cycle.

On Monday, the Sao Paulo stock index shed 3.24%, while Petrobras shares dropped around 6% as Lula's inauguration speech sparked investor fears of interventionist government policies. The national currency – the real – saw its value slide by 1.5%.