The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated this Monday, 6th, that the government is preparing a package of measures to assist the population of Rio Grande do Sul who were affected by the tragedies caused by the rains. In addition to the release of extraordinary credit announced today, the economic team will propose other fronts, such as the creation of a line of credit for affected families and special tax treatment for companies in a type of deferral, in addition to a solution to the issue of State debt.
“We want to submit to President Lula tomorrow some scenarios for us to define on Wednesday. We have the issue of company taxes, the issue of credit, which will have to have a specific line of credit for the reconstruction of people’s homes, not all world, most people do not have insurance coverage (…) The issue of State debt, the treatment that will be given to this issue, so that the State also recovers investment capacity”, Haddad told journalists.
Regarding the line of credit for families, the minister explained that the idea is to use the banking network, such as Banco do Brasil. He will meet tomorrow with President Taciana Medeiros and said that this will be one of the topics discussed at the meeting. Haddad further explained that BNDES can be a distribution agent in the process. Regarding the tax treatment of companies, the idea is to propose a type of deferral – which consists of postponing or postponing the payment of tax, and not necessarily an exemption.
Earlier today, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the publication of a Legislative Decree Project (PDL), which should be voted on today by the Chamber, providing resources to help with the recovery of Rio Grande do Sul amid the tragedies caused by the rains . The mechanism supports the subsequent release of extraordinary credits outside the primary result target.
Asked about the value of the extraordinary credit that will be released, Haddad explained that it is difficult to estimate the cost and said it is necessary to wait for the next few days to assess the damage. He guaranteed, however, that the resources will be well focused on Rio Grande do Sul.
“It will be very centralized so that we don’t lose governance, it is very focused on this calamity, it is very focused on the affected municipalities. Therefore, the government’s action is detailed and it will have a procedure that has to be approved at the level of the Executive and Legislative It’s like a current account so we have total transparency about the destination of this resource”, said the minister.
Haddad also said that he spoke with the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), and assured that there is a consensus on the allocation of emergency treatment for the State of Rio Grande do Sul. He explained, however, that this does not prevent the debate on new solutions to the debts of other federal entities from being held at a later stage. The process, according to him, will be phased.
“We are going to provide emergency treatment to this issue and this will not prevent us, in a second phase, from continuing discussions around this. You heard about the Federal Supreme Court’s decision on Rio de Janeiro, so that is on the agenda too”, he stated. Today, Federal Supreme Court Minister Dias Toffoli issued an injunction suspending part of the fine imposed by the Union on Rio de Janeiro for non-payment of debt installments under the Tax Recovery Regime (RRF).
