Meirelles Talks Up Successes Of Previous Lula Admin After Endorsement

The campaign of former President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva has been given a significant boost by the endorsement of former Minister of the Economy and Central Bank chief Henrique Meirelles.

• In a Twitter thread following his endorsement of Lula, Meirelles says: "I worked in the [Lula administration] for eight years, from 2003 to 2010, invited to command the Central Bank. During this period, more than ten million jobs were created in Brazil. That's an unquestionable fact."
• "Forty million people left the poverty line, which changed the country's life for a long time. We had an average growth of 4% in the country, which is relevant – and the last year in 2010 was more than 7%."
• Meirelles also says that Lula's administration successfully transitioned from a period of low FX reserves and laid the groundwork for a successful navigation of the 2008 financial crisis.
• "Well, I was fortunate to sign the check as president of [Central Bank], paying the debt and bid farewell to the IMF [...] We managed to accumulate almost $300 billion in reserves [and] we successfully face[d] the 2008 crisis, when Brazil had the smallest and shortest recession in the world."