The president of Brazil's central bank, Henrique Meirelles, is not attending this weekend's meetings in Okinawa, having cancelled at the last minute. His absence comes as the banker faces possible prosecution in Brazil following allegations of tax evasion and illegal money transfers.
A source in the Brazilian delegation said yesterday that Meirelles cancelled his trip because "he had a problem", although declined to speculate on whether his non-attendance was related to last week's charges. Alexandre Schwartzman, director of international affairs at Brazil's central bank, had no comment when asked why Meirelles is not in Okinawa.
One reason behind his absence could be that this year's annual meeting, which is being held unusually late, falls too close to the IMF/ World Bank spring meetings. That event takes place next week. Meirelles is scheduled to attend.
Meirelles's office issued a statement earlier this week denying any wrongdoing. In the statement Meirelles welcomed the prospect of "a definite ruling by the judiciary on supposed irregularities that have never been proved."
Brazil's president Lula da Silva recently elevated the job of central bank president to a cabinet level post. This would mean the bank head could only to be tried by the Supreme Court, granting Meirelles immunity from lawsuits in the lower courts.
Some observers say that the charges are political noise possibly originating in the opposition or from factions within Lula's own workers party, who oppose the bank's monetary policy. Brazil's interest rates are among the highest in the world and were recently raised to 19.25%. Policymakers are considering raising the benchmark rate to 19.75% on April 20, at the central bank's next policy meeting.
Other analysts speculate that the investigation into Meirelles' tax records will make it more difficult to gain Congress's support for a bill to make the bank independent of the central government. Meirelles is expected to quit the central bank later this year, irrespective of the charges.