Paulo Guedes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Guedes in 2020 | |
| Minister of the Economy | |
| In office 1 January 2019 – 1 January 2023 | |
| President | Jair Bolsonaro |
| Preceded by | Eduardo Guardia |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Haddad |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Paulo Roberto Nunes Guedes (1949-08-24)24 August 1949 (age 75) Rio de Janeiro,Federal District, Brazil |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Economist |
Paulo Roberto Nunes Guedes (born 24 August 1949) is a Brazilian economist and co-founder of the investment bankBTG Pactual. He is also a co-founder of the think-tankInstituto Millenium, and was the economic advisor for thecampaign of PresidentJair Bolsonaro.[1] Guedes served as theMinister of the Economy ofBrazil through the entirety of theBolsonaro presidency, from 1 January 2019 to 1 January 2023.[2]
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Guedes attended theFederal University of Minas Gerais as an undergraduate,[3] and later received a master's degree in economics from theGetúlio Vargas Foundation. In 1974 Guedes moved with his wife to the United States to attend theUniversity of Chicago. Then an advocate ofKeynesian economics influenced byPaul Samuelson andFranco Modigliani, Guedes adhered toliberalism while attending the University of Chicago, where he was taught byMilton Friedman. His areas of academic focus includedmacroeconomics,international commerce andeconometrics.[4] Guedes received his Ph.D. in 1978.[5]
In 1983 Guedes was one of the co-founders of Banco Pactual, nowBTG Pactual, alongside André Jacurski and Luiz Cezar Fernandes. During the 1980s he was a professor of graduate economics at thePontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and theNational Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics.[3][5] During themilitary dictatorship of Chile, Guedes was a professor at theUniversity of Chile.[4] He is a co-founder of theliberal think-tank Millenium Institute.[6] From 1983 to 1999 Guedes was executive director ofIbmec. Guedes was also a columnist forO Globo,Folha de São Paulo andExame.[7] Guedes published a piece for theGlobo newspaper in 2017 praisingOperation Car Wash and the judiciary's efforts to curb corruption and impunity.[8] Guedes was partner and president at Bozano Investimentos until December 2018.[9]
On October 2, 2018, theFederal Public Ministry (MPF) decides to probe Guedes on an accusation of fraud relative to the management of investment funds that were managed by him.Since 2009, those funds have received contributions amounting to one billion Brazilian Reals (BRL) from pension funds belonging to the Brazilian state including from funds of Previ, Banco do Brasil, Petros, Petrobras, Funcef, Caixa and Postalis (Brazilian Posts), that are being probed by several Federal Police task forces, including in the frame of Operation Greenfield, which activities focus on the investments in the Fundos de Investimentos nas Participações (FIP).[10][11][12]After having receiving funds from the BR Educational Fund, managed by Guedes, those were reinvested in a sole company, HSM Educacional S/A, that is also managed by Guedes. With the moneys HSM Educational bought 100% of another company, also managed by Guedes: HSM do Brasil S/A. The goodwill (acquisition gap corresponding to the excess over the real value of the company paid to buy it) amounted to 16,5 million Brazilian Reals. After the buyout, HSM do Brasil S/A started having recurring losses.According to the Public Prosecutor Office, the state owned pension funds that were mobilized by the Investment Funds managed by Guedes have lost 200 Million Dollars.[13]
Guedes has denied wrongdoing and said the investigation is politically motivated and "meant to confuse voters".[14][15] In December 2018 theFederal Police accepted the MPF's request to open an investigation into Guedes's practices regarding pension funds.[16]
In October 2021, his name is mentioned in thePandora Papers.[17]
Guedes has never been affiliated with a political party,[6] but in1989 was responsible for the economic proposals of the campaign of liberal (classic liberal / libertarian) candidateGuilherme Afif Domingos for the presidency.[18]
In 2018 Guedes was named as the economic advisor for thecampaign ofJair Bolsonaro in the2018 presidential election.[6] Guedes is the candidate's likely pick for Minister of the Economy in a future cabinet.[3][19] As Bolsonaro's economic spokesperson, Guedes has advocated for theprivatization of several state-owned companies, and has defended some of the reforms of PresidentMichel Temer, such as limits to public spending and higher interest rates for loans fromBNDES. Guedes supports a single, value-added federal tax instead of Brazil's current tax system.[20][21] He also advocates for an income tax exemption of R$5,030, which is roughly five times theminimum wage in Brazil (as of 2019, the minimum wage in Brazil isR$998/month).[22][23]
Guedes was confirmed as Bolsonaro's pick to head theMinistry of the Economy. Guedes's ministry encompasses treasury, planning, budgeting, industry, and commerce.[24]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas Minister of Finance | Minister of the Economy 2019–2023 | Succeeded byas Minister of Finance |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
