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REFILE-UPDATE 1-Stability-minded team named to top Brazil posts

Published 11/24/2010, 12:28 PM

* Rousseff confirms Mantega as finance minister

* Director Alexandre Tombini to head central bank

* Miriam Belchior to become Planning Minister (Removes superfluous word "in", 1st paragraph)

BRASILIA, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Brazil's President-elect Dilma Rousseff on Wednesday confirmed Guido Mantega would stay on as finance minister and Alexandre Tombini would take over as central bank president, a sign the new government is unlikely to stray far from current economic policy.

Mantega's nomination could fuel fears of a moderate expansion in fiscal spending next year, while the appointment of a central bank veteran to its highest ranking job is likely to reassure investors worried that monetary policy could become looser under Rousseff.

"The president-elect determined that the new team assures continuity of the successful economic policy of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government -- based on the inflation-targeting regime, floating currency and fiscal responsibility," Rousseff's press office said in a statement.

Miriam Belchior, who currently oversees the government's flagship infrastructure investment program, will take over the planning ministry, the press release said.

The nomination of the three ministers had been expected but Tombini's appointment still has to be approved by Congress. See [ID:nN23137506].

Mantega, who took over the finance ministry in 2006 after Antonio Palocci resigned over a corruption scandal, has presided over one of Brazil's most impressive economic booms in recent years but has also overseen a huge increase in spending.

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Brazil's key interest rate: http://r.reuters.com/bem26q

Key facts about Brazil's economy: [ID:nN19135426]

Political risks in Brazil: [ID:nRISKBR]

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Analysts fear further expansionary government expenditure would fuel inflation and increase the pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates further from 10.75 percent.

Tombini was one of the architects of the bank's inflation-targeting regime but will have to prove that he can withstand government pressure for looser monetary policy. (Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)

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