“When I have news for you, I’ll give it to you,” the Finance Minister told journalists
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said this Thursday (November 2, 2023) that he does not refuse to talk about the target of zero primary deficit for 2024. He stated that he is ” transparent” About the subject.
“I’m not a journalist, I leave through the main door every day, I don’t resort to subterfuge. When I have news for you, I’ll give it to you. I don’t hide any of this”he said in an interview with journalists.
The statement was given after a meeting with the senator Eduardo Braga (MDB-AM), responsible for the report (full PDF – 1 MB) of the tax reform in Casa Alta. The 2 discussed points of the text.
Watch (1min10s):
On Monday (Oct 30), the minister gave an interview to journalists and expressed irritation when asked about the topic at least 4 times.
When asked by journalists whether the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) would change the target of zero primary deficit next year, Haddad laughed. Below is what the minister responded:
“Dear, I already told you… This is the 4th time I have answered: for the Ministry of Finance, we are going to take measures for the government so that the objectives are achieved regardless of these setbacks that were discovered throughout the year and that have brought the erosion of the federal tax calculation base. But it needs to validate in politics the decisions that need to be made.”
LULA
On Friday (Oct 27), President Lula said in a coffee session with journalists that the government would be unlikely to meet the zero primary deficit next year.
Despite the negative repercussion of Lula’s speeches, Haddad minimized the Chief Executive’s statements by saying that the president was dealing with tax benefits.
IMPASSE
The government has not yet found a solution to the change in the fiscal target. There are at least 3 issues that, at the moment, impede any concrete action. Are they:
- indefiniteness – wings of the government argue that the change should be made now, especially after the president’s speech. Other wings, more aligned with Haddad, suggest that the change be made in the first quarterly assessment of the target, next year. They say it would cause less impact;
- Format – among those who defend the change in government, who are currently the majority, there is still no conclusion on how this would be done. There is a chance that the government will send a modifying message. Others suggest that it is the result of an agreement between leaders and ends up being included in the report;
- value – currently, they are talking about a deficit of 0.25% to 0.50%. But there is no consensus.
The 3 themes were debated at a meeting held at Palácio do Planalto in the late afternoon of this Wednesday (1st.Nov.2023). Ministers Rui Costa (Civil House), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Simone Tebet (Planning) met with the rapporteur of the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law), Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE).
