The former central banker who laid the foundation for Brazil’s boom by helping to slay inflation has warned that rapid credit growth in the country needs close scrutiny from policymakers.

Arminio Fraga, one of Brazil’s most successful former central bank presidents, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the quality of some new consumer lending was open to question, although Brazil was not approaching a “subprime”-style crisis.

“I am concerned about the fast loan growth and I’m curious to see what will happen with the quality of these loan books,” said Mr Fraga, who was central bank president between 1999 and 2002 and now runs one of the country’s biggest private equity and hedge fund managers, Gavea Investimentos. “If I had my old job, I would send my troops all over the place to check it out.”