Brazil's finance minister replaced amid economic, political upheaval

Published December 18, 2015

Brazil's state-run news agency says Finance Minister Joaquim Levy is being replaced after just over a year on the job.

Agencia Brasil says the fiscally conservative former treasury secretary will be replaced by Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa.

Levy was appointed in Nov. 2014 amid rising concern about Brazil's slumping economy, and he was widely expected to chart a new economic course. But a continuing political crisis hampered the belt-tightening measures Levy insisted were crucial to restarting the economy, and few made it through Congress.

Brazil's economy is mired in the worst recession in 25 years and is expected to contract more than 3.5 percent this year.

Levy clashed frequently and publically with President Dilma Rousseff, prompting rumors of his impending resignation going back months.

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