Haddad: “The fiscal framework must have a long life, it cannot be like the spending ceiling”
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (PT)said, this Wednesday (16), that the government wants to ensure that the fiscal framework has a “long life”.
After meeting with the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and directors of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), at Palácio do Planalto, Haddad commented on the set of cost-cutting measures that must be presented by the economic team to achieve the primary result targets.
“When (the economy) grows, you have room for expenses to grow a little less, but also follow the country’s development, but at a pattern and pace consistent with our current reality. It is this equation that we want to close by the end of the year”, explained the minister.
Haddad highlighted that there is concern about the future dynamics of the fiscal framework, which is the set of rules that determines the management of the country’s public accounts, the dynamics between revenues and expenses.
“The framework has to be long-lasting, it cannot be something like what happened with the spending cap. Everyone who looked at the spending cap knew that it would be short-lived”, compared Haddad.
Haddad denies the idea of removing spending on state-owned companies from the fiscal framework
Minister says the government is evaluating whether some dependent state-owned companies may no longer need contributions from the National Treasury
The minister informed that the government will dialogue with parliamentary leaders on the resumption of Congress after the municipal elections. “The fiscal framework was designed by many hands, with great participation in Congress. So, we are able to look ahead and make the parts fit into the whole dynamically, making the evolution of expenditure respect the constraints that the Brazilian economy is going through today, depending on the inheritance received, the level of debt and everything else”, he observed.
Lula’s “Conselhão” will have a group to discuss interest rates, says president of Febraban
“We believe it is time to take advantage of this window with controlled growth and inflation to attack structural problems”, said the president of Febraban, Isaac Sidney, after meeting with Lula and bankers
According to Haddad, Febraban pointed out several paths to fiscal sustainability, from the balance of Social Security and “the effects of having or not having expertise on the granting of benefits”.
At the meeting, the banking entity took stock of the labor reform and the dialogue it maintains with the unions to “improve the standard of relationships with workers, avoiding unnecessary judicialization that implies costs that will end up affecting the cost of credit”.
(With Agência Brasil)
