The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, meets this Monday night (9) with the President of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), to discuss the impasse in the release of parliamentary amendments that could delay the vote on the package of cost cutting. The meeting takes place after the minister of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) Flávio Dino deny appeal from the Attorney General’s Office to review the rules defined by the Court for the transfer of amendments.
“President Lula has already met with the presidents of the Houses, agreed on a course of action that, from my point of view, meets the wishes of parliamentarians”, said the minister at the entrance of the Ministry of Finance when leaving for the meeting with Pacheco.
This afternoon, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met with Pacheco and the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), to discuss a solution that would allow voting on the fiscal package before the parliamentary recess.
Late this Monday afternoon, the executive secretary of Finance, Dario Durigan, met with the PT bench in the Chamber and stated that he believed it was possible to approve the proposals this week. However, he did not rule out the possibility of issuing a provisional measure for the parts of the package that can be resolved in a bill, if the package is not approved before the recess.
PT criticism
Haddad also commented on the criticisms that the PT made, last weekend, of the proposal to restrict access to the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC), one of the points of the spending cut package. The party approved a note praising the taxation of the super-rich, but criticized the proposed changes to social benefits, saying a debate with the government was necessary to reduce resistance to the issue.
For the minister, possible challenges to the change in the BPC are being resolved, as the government clarifies that it does not intend to cut rights, but to intensify the review of registrations and tighten the criteria for qualifying for the benefit (such as counting family income per capita) to avoid fraud and save money. Haddad said he continues to count on the PT’s support for the approval of the package.
Estimates
The minister also said that the package is necessary to “leave behind” the climate of distrust that has risen in recent months. According to Haddad, some banks have revised their savings estimates, and the calculations are getting closer to the Treasury’s projections, which foresee savings of R$71.9 billion in 2025 and 2026 and R$327 billion by 2030.
“Those who are doing the math know that the measures are going in the right direction and there is no small impact, it is an important impact that can, in fact, help to anchor expectations”, declared the minister. Once again, Haddad highlighted that the package will save a considerable level of resources to adjust spending estimates.
