Lula meeting on tax package ends without announcement; debate should continue on Tuesday

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s meeting with ministers to discuss cost containment measures ended early this Monday evening without announcement or press conference, with the Ministry of Finance pointing out that the debate will continue on Tuesday.

“The Ministry of Finance informs that at this Monday’s meeting, the country’s fiscal framework was presented and understood, as well as the proposals under discussion”, said the ministry in a note.

According to the ministry, as the meeting continues on Tuesday, other ministries will be called by the Civil House “so that they can also give their opinion and contribute”.

Earlier this Monday, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, had stated that the fiscal measures to be announced by the government were “very advanced” from a technical point of view, highlighting his belief that they could be announced this week, which contributed to a improves mood in the market.

Participating in the meeting at Palácio do Planalto were Haddad and the ministers of the Civil House, Rui Costa, of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, of Management, Esther Dweck, of Health, Nísia Trindade, of Education, Camilo Santana, and of Labor, Luiz Marinho .

Last week, Marinho told journalists that he had not been consulted about possible adjustments to labor programs such as salary bonuses and unemployment insurance, which meant, for him, that these measures were not being considered.

The meeting, which began in the middle of the afternoon, was also attended by the executive secretary of Finance, Dario Durigan, the department’s Secretary of Economic Policy, Guilherme Mello, and the executive secretary of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior.

As Haddad reported earlier this Monday, the meeting at Planalto would help Lula decide what would be the best way to communicate fiscal measures. He highlighted that the president spent the weekend working on the matter, in contact with technicians, but did not present details of the package.

After adopting actions to control registrations and combat fraud in social and pension programs, the economic team decided to prepare an announcement for after the October municipal elections, as anticipated by Reuters, proposing more structural measures to control spending.

The government’s objective is to support the fiscal framework and reduce the trajectory of public debt. Among the actions studied in recent months, the economic team evaluated adjustments in programs such as the Continuous Payment Benefit, social security benefits and Health and Education floors.