By Alonso Soto and Brian Winter
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - The chief executive of Brazilian bank Bradesco SA will not be the country's next finance minister, a government official told Reuters on Thursday, after two local newspapers reported he turned down the job in a major setback for recently re-elected President Dilma Rousseff.
Luiz Carlos Trabuco is out of the running for the post, the official said on condition of anonymity. The official declined to confirm or deny that Trabuco had been offered the job.
Since winning a runoff vote on Oct. 26, Rousseff has yet to name a new finance minister for her second term at a time when Brazil's economy is struggling with slow growth, high inflation and fallout from a growing corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA.
Trabuco, the CEO of the country's second-largest private bank, was seen as a relatively market-friendly name who could have rebuilt ties with the private sector after years of frustration with Rousseff's leftist, interventionist policies.
Two Brazilian newspapers reported on Thursday that Trabuco was likely to turn down the invitation made by Rousseff due to his commitments with the bank.
Rousseff is again considering central bank chief Alexandre Tombini and former deputy finance minister Nelson Barbosa to the job, Folha de Sao Paulo reported citing a source close to the president.
Both economists are close Rousseff aides and would represent a continuation of the leftist policies blamed for pushing Brazil into recession this year, analysts say.
A spokesman for the president said earlier that there would be no announcement of a new finance minister on Thursday because Rousseff would attend the funeral of a former justice minister.
(Additional reporting by Brian Winter; Editing by Nick Zieminski)