The 1 percentage point increase in the Selic rate (the economy’s basic interest rate) represents a “surprise on the one hand”, but was already predicted by the financial market, said this Wednesday (11) the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. He said he was pursuing fiscal goals and highlighted that the spending cut package sent to Congress is “adequate and politically viable”.
“It was a surprise on the one hand. But, on the other hand, it was priced [do mercado financeiro] in that regard. I will read it calmly, analyze the statement, talk to some people after the period of silence”, declared Haddad upon leaving the Ministry of Finance about an hour after the end of the Copom meeting, without going into details about the BC’s decision.
Until the middle of last year, Haddad explicitly commented on the Copom’s decisions, criticizing the Central Bank’s delay in starting to reduce interest rates and the tone of some communications. When the monetary authority began to reduce the Selic rate in August last year, the minister celebrated the decision.
Tax package
Regarding the fiscal package, Haddad said that one week is enough for the measures to be approved in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, even with the impasse in releasing parliamentary amendments. According to the minister, the fiscal adjustment, estimated at R$71.9 billion by 2026 and R$327 billion by 2030, was politically viable.
“This type of thing is difficult to process in the National Congress. We sent an adjustment that we considered appropriate and politically viable. You can send twice as much there, but what will come out? [ser aprovado] That’s what matters,” he said.
The minister did not specify what points the government could change in the project that tightens the rules for access to the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC). However, he highlighted that it was possible to change parts of the project. “If you need to improve the writing on something, the writing will be improved. We are confident that we will achieve those values [de economia]. So, we seek to calibrate the adjustment to the needs of maintaining fiscal policy,” added Haddad.
When asked about the harsh tone of the Copom statement regarding the disruptions that the spending cut package caused in the financial market, the minister repeated that several financial institutions are redoing their savings calculations and arriving at values close to those released by the government.
“Today, a report came out from a large bank bringing its calculations closer to ours. There are still several outstanding points that were not considered and that, if they had been considered, would have reached closer to R$65 billion in the two years [2025 e 2026]”, he commented.
