Paulo Montoia
Reporter - Agência Brasil

São Paulo - The Industrial Federation of São Paulo (Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo) (Fiesp) has decided to endorse criticism by the Confederation of (Catholic) Bishops (Confederação Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil) (CNBB), whose general secretary, Dom Odilo Scherer, expressed discontent with the direction of the economy this week.

"Fiesp applauds the recent declarations by Dom Odilo Scherer when he called Brazil a financial paradise for banks," says a note from the Fiesp president, Paulo Skaf. "The men who are making the country's economic policy decisions are not bad men. But they are obsessed with a phantom that has long been taken care of: inflation. These are new times. We need men with the courage and responsibility to reduce interest rates and increase income distribution," concluded Skaf.

Translation: Allen Bennett