The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated, this Friday (29), that a collective effort is necessary to recover the primary surplus in the country, that is, to obtain a positive balance between government revenues and expenses.
According to the minister, to improve public accounts, it is necessary to persuade everyone that the task is essential and, although it also seems difficult, “the Executive Branch’s toolbox is infinite”. 
“We have to make an effort at home, convince ministers of the need to contain the dynamics of the evolution of public spending, convince the National Congress”, said Haddad, during the Annual Lunch of Bank Directors, an event that brings together CEOS (directors executives) and the main leaders of the country’s banking sector.
Haddad stated that he finds the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the president of the Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), allies in achieving this objective. The package of mandatory spending cut presented by the government, of R$70 billion, must be voted on by both Houses of the National Congress by the end of the year, before the parliamentary recess.
“I witnessed their meeting with President Lula, and the alignment couldn’t be better”, highlighted Haddad. “The serious distortions in our tax system are being corrected”, recalled the minister, adding that, if there are exemptions, “someone will have to pay for them”.
“Congress did a great job last year to control the country’s primary spending,” he added. Primary expenditure comprises government expenditure on the provision of public goods and services to the population, such as funds allocated to the area of education and the Unified Health System (SUS).
Another aspect addressed by the Minister of Finance was what should predominate on the 2025 agenda. According to Haddad, there is a possibility for the National Congress to make changes [no pacote]which is as expected, as it is a democracy, a system in which “people think differently”.
He also admitted that there is a climate of uncertainty, especially due to Donald Trump’s return to the White House in the United States.
Indexing
The Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, participates in the Annual Lunch for Bank Directors – Paulo Pinto/Agência Brasil
Also present at the event, the Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, considered that “you cannot spend more than you have” and stated that, in Brazil, the problem is indexation.
In the minister’s assessment, the country’s problem “is not spending too much, but spending poorly”. “We will make adjustments without removing any rights. But everything has to be within the Budget”, summarized Simone Tebet. For the minister, the government is already “at the limit of the framework with education and health”.
*Extended text at 2:44 pm
