The former mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad, said today (25) that the government of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will have tax reform as a priority. Haddad, who was Minister of Education during Lula’s previous terms, represented the president-elect at a luncheon promoted by the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban). “President Lula’s clear determination is that we can give a total priority to tax reform at the beginning of the next government”, he emphasized when speaking to the audience formed by directors of financial institutions.
Lula is recovering after undergoing surgery earlier this week to remove an injury to his larynx. On medical advice, the president-elect must avoid speeches or long speeches for a few days.
According to Haddad, Lula’s intention is to take advantage of proposals that are already being discussed in the National Congress regarding indirect taxes, which affect consumption, in order to later change the system of taxes on income and assets. “It seems to me that President Lula will give priority next year to the approval of this stage of the tax reform, which concerns some taxes. But, in the sequence, he intends to forward a proposal on the reformulation of taxes on income and assets”, he highlighted.
Furthermore, according to Haddad, the next government should pay attention to the quality of public spending. “The quality of public spending in Brazil has deteriorated a lot. We, today, have a budget that is very difficult to reach any programmed objective, whether for science, technology, education, the environment or health, ”he said.
This greater efficiency will be, according to the former minister, done in negotiation with Congress. “We have a huge task to reconfigure the budget and provide more transparency, without taking the lead from Congress. Congress can and should participate in the budget issue with regard to directing resources to expenses that parliamentarians consider a priority. But that does not mean disengaging with transparency and efficiency in public spending,” he added.
The budget should also, according to Haddad, balance social policies with the control of public spending. “President Lula is a man of dialogue who has never opposed fiscal responsibility and social responsibility,” he told the press.
