Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said Monday that Finance Minister Guido Mantega asked not to stay in the job if she is re-elected in October.
Rousseff made the comments to local online news service TV Estad?o, and her press office confirmed the report.
Speculation about Mantega's exit grew last week after Rousseff told reporters that she would have a "new team" in the event she won a second term.
Rousseff, who was leading the polls earlier this year, has seen her prospects diminish lately, as the country experiences low growth and resilient inflation. Opposition candidate Marina Silva has jumped ahead of Rousseff in polls since taking over as candidate for the Brazilian Socialist Party on Aug. 20. She has pledged to unwind many of the policies Mantega introduced during his eight-and-a-half years on the job.
