SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday he will stay in his post as long as he has the confidence of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Guedes’ relationship with Bolsonaro has come under scrutiny since the right-wing president pushed out the chief executive of state-run oil company Petrobras in February and threatened to interfere in other sectors of the economy.
Speaking to Primocast, a podcast focused on financial matters, Guedes said he would not be swayed by external pressures.
“If (Bolsonaro) has confidence in my work and I’m able to execute my work, all good. If he doesn’t have confidence, I can be fired in 30 seconds,” said Guedes, a free market-supporting liberal.
“Fear, combat, wind, rain, that will never push me out. What pushes me out is losing the president’s confidence. If I need to push Brazil down the wrong path, I prefer not to push, I prefer to leave,” he said.
(Reporting by Camila Moreira; Writing by Gram Slattery; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
