Brazil's finance minister replaced amid economic upheaval

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil's state-run news agency says Finance Minister Joaquim Levy is being replaced after just over a year on the job.

Agencia Brasil says the fiscally conservative former treasury secretary will be replaced by Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa.

Levy was appointed in Nov. 2014 amid rising concern about Brazil's slumping economy, and he was widely expected to chart a new economic course. But a continuing political crisis hampered the belt-tightening measures Levy insisted were crucial to restarting the economy, and few made it through Congress.

Brazil's economy is mired in the worst recession in 25 years and is expected to contract more than 3.5 percent this year.

Levy clashed frequently and publically with President Dilma Rousseff, prompting rumors of his impending resignation going back months.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-19

Brazil’s economic freedom score is 56.6, making its economy the 118th freest in the 2015 Index. Its score is 0.3 point worse than last year, reflecting declines in half of the 10 economic freedoms including investment freedom, the management of government spending, and monetary freedom. Brazil is ranked 21st out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is below the world average.

Over the past five years, Brazil’s economic freedom has advanced by less than 0.5 point. Improvements in financial freedom and freedom from corruption have been largely offset by deteriorations in the area of regulatory efficiency, including business freedom and labor freedom.

http://www.heritage.org/index/country/brazil

Bad move. Levy had credibility with the markets and was taking the tough measures needed.