Central Bank of Brazil: Public or Private? The ambivalence of the Central Bank of Brazil and the ballast for currency issuance
| Autor | Thiago Perez Bernardes de Moraes |
| Cargo | Politólogo |
| Páginas | 127-145 |
REVISTA CHILENA DE DERECHO Y CIENCIA POLÍTICA
MAYO-AGOSTO 2015 • ISSN 0718-9389 • e-ISSN 0719-2150 • VOL. 6 • Nº 2
DOI 10.7770/RCHDYCP.V6I2.901
1
The Central Bank of Brazil: Public or Private?
Reflections on the Ambivalence of the Central
Bank of Brazil and the Legal Safeguards for
Currency Distribution
Banco Central de Brasil: ¿Público o Privado? Reflexiones sobre la ambivalencia
del Banco Central de Brasil y sobre el amparo legal de la emisión de moneda
THIAGO PEREZ BERNARDES DE MORAES
1
Universidad Argentina John Fizterald Kennedy, Argentina
RECEPCIÓN: 17/04/2015 • ACEPTACIÓN: 17/08/2015
ABSTRACT
The Central Bank of Brazil is an autarchy of the federal government that
checks the monopoly on currency distribution. In the majority of developed
countries, the central bank is privately owned. However, in Brazil and in other
countries with slow development, the central bank is public. Nevertheless, public
central banks operate in practically the same way that private banks do, especially
in regards to currency distribution, which, by means of legal devices, is a private
monopoly almost all over the world. The goal of this paper is to analyze the public-
private dichotomy, starting with an analysis of the legal safeguards of currency
distribution in Brazil. On that point, we conclude that the evidence indicates that
the degree of independence that the Central Bank of Brazil has acquired is linked
to lobbies won by economic elites, who benefit from public debt titles, over
political elites.
KEYWORDS
Central Bank of Brazil; Legal Safeguards; Public Debt; Economic Policy.
RESUMEN
El Banco Central de Brasil es una autarquía del gobierno federal que
detiene el monopolio de la emisión de moneda. En la mayoría de los países
1
El autor es un politólogo, profesor de estudios de postgrado en ciencias sociales
en la Faculdad Padre João Bagozzi y estudiante de doctorado en psicología social
de la Universidad Argentina John Fizterald Kennedy. Correo:
thiagomoraessp@hotmail.com.
REVISTA CHILENA DE DERECHO Y CIENCIA POLÍTICA
MAYO-AGOSTO 2015 • ISSN 0718-9389 • e-ISSN 0719-2150 • VOL. 6 • Nº 2
DOI 10.7770/RCHDYCP.V6I2.901
2
desarrollados el banco central es de propiedad privada. Pero, en Brasil y en otros
países con desarrollo tardío, el banco central es público. Ocurre sin embargo, que
los bancos centrales públicos operan prácticamente del mismo modo que los
privados, especialmente en relación a la emisión de moneda que, por medio de
artificios legales, es un monopolio privado en casi todo el mundo. Ese trabajo tiene
como objetivo analizar esa dicotomía público/ privado, a partir del análisis del
amparo legal de la emisión de moneda en Brasil. En este punto concluimos que hay
evidencias que apuntan que el grado de independencia que el Banco Central de
Brasil ha adquirido guarda relación con presiones ganadas por elites económicas
(que se benefician de los títulos de deuda pública), sobre elites políticas.
PALABRAS CLAVES
Banco Central de Brasil, Amparo Legal, Deuda Pública, Política
Monetaria.
Introduction
Central Banks function like pivots of political and economic relations in the
democracies all over the world. Usually these are awarded the monopoly over the
currency issuance, and also the right to establish and administer the interest rate.
This gives the president of the central bank and other authorities of these
institutions a great political power, especially regarding the possibility of
individual bargaining within the financial market. We could say that the president
of the central banks around the world have greater influence on people's lives than
the president of most countries. Here, there is the ambivalence that political
science and law have shown little interest in responding after all, if the central
bank holds so much power why are the means of recruiting their posts not made in
a democratic way through direct election, for example? This is a difficult question
to answer, and also beyond the scope of this study, however through the Brazilian
case we will get some useful insights.
The Brazilian case is peculiar because even that the central bank is public
(which is different from developed countries where they are private), it functions
as a private bank, it has a monopoly on currency issuance, and also a monopoly on
the right to control economic policies, particularly regarding the establishment of
the interest rate. As the Brazilian economic policy mainly aims at "fighting back
against inflation", which uses the interest rate as the main instrument, authorities
of the Central Bank of Brazil get enough bargaining power, after all, they have a
monopoly on the interest rate control. Understanding that it is not only directly
related to the gain on the public debt bonds, but also on the level of currency
issuance, which is controlled by the government bonds holders.
This study is divided into four parts and this introduction. In the first part
we discuss the role of central banks and the establishment of these institutions in
Brazil and worldwide in historical perspective. In the second part of this study we
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