President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed optimism about the current situation in the country and the results of the programs that are being implemented, even in the face of international economic uncertainty and exchange rate pressuresin a ministerial meeting at the Planalto Palace. Lula reaffirmed that the New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) is the government policy that should guide the work of all his ministers.
“If anyone is feeling pessimistic, please contact me so I can give you some optimism,” said Lula at the opening of the meeting.
“First, because I believe in what we are doing. Second, I believe that our numbers, so far, are all positive, despite the prospect of an international crisis that the dollar has been causing throughout the world. We remain very balanced, we remain in a good situation, employment is growing, wages are growing, the payroll is growing, unemployment is falling and inflation is completely balanced,” added the president.
In the first half of this year alone, the dollar accumulated a rise of 15.15%. Even with the president’s optimism, the high exchange rate is putting pressure on inflation expectations for the country, and the Central Bank is already evaluating the possibility of raise interest rates to contain inflation.
In June, influenced mainly by the food and beverage group, the The country’s inflation registered 0.21%after registering 0.46% in May. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), in 12 months, the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA) has accumulated 4.23%. July’s inflation will be released this Friday (9).
Despite falling, expectations for the index are still above the established target, fueled by uncertainty among economic agents. Market projections for inflation this year and 2025 are around 4.1% and 4%, respectively, compared to a target of 3%.
For Lula, inflation is devastating for workers. “Every time someone talks about inflation, I get worried because I may be the only one who has worked in a factory, earning a salary with inflation at 80% per month, so I know how devastating inflation is for workers. That is why, for us, inflation is an important factor; the lower it is, the better for Brazilian society,” he said.
National plan
President Lula reminded his ministers that the government has defined a single policy that should guide the work within each department, which is the New PAC. “When we thought about creating the PAC the first time, and then the second time, and then the third time, it was because we needed to give the government as a whole a commitment to work so that we would not wait for each minister to think about his own policy, each minister to meet his specific needs, and so that we would not have a national development plan,” explained Lula.
The president reaffirmed that the government’s role is to develop programs, primarily for the poorest people. “I always wonder how many steps up the social ladder the poor people will climb, because that’s what matters to those who govern, knowing whether they have managed to value those people who have always been forgotten,” he said.
The beginning of the meeting was broadcast live on the president’s social media and on Canal Gov. Lula then announced that he would hand over the floor to the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, who is coordinating the implementation of the New PAC. The Ministers of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and Institutional Relations, Alexandre Padilha, would also speak about economic issues and political articulation.
“We have a Chamber that will change its president, a Senate that will change its president, and all of this must be done with great caution so that it does not have any impact on the functioning of the government,” warned Lula.
According to Lula, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Viera, would explain the progress of Brazil’s agenda in the presidency of the G20 (group of the 19 largest economies in the world, plus the European Union and the African Union) and the “disputes we are encountering there to find a peaceful solution for the elections in Venezuela”.
A speech is also scheduled by the Minister of the Presidency’s Social Communication Secretariat, Laércio Portela, and the president of IBGE, Marcio Pochmann, who is participating in the meeting at Lula’s invitation.
Each of the ministers present will also have 5 minutes to present the work being carried out in each department. The attendance list for the meeting includes 52 participants, including ministers of state, parliamentarians, government leaders and presidents of public companies and banks.
Organized crime
Still in his speech at the opening of the ministerial meeting, President Lula highlighted the importance of combating organized crime and said that he will talk to the 27 governors about the inclusion of the Unified Public Security System (Susp) in the Federal Constitution. The topic was discussed this Wednesday (7) in a meeting between the president and the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Ricardo Lewandowski.
The government must submit to Congress a proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) to expand the Union’s responsibilities in public safety and that also involves municipalities. Today, states have autonomy over public security and are responsible for the Civil and Military Police. Lula assured that the objective is not to interfere.
“We need to value the federated entities, define the role of each one and the commitment of each one so that things work out. We cannot play around with public security, we know how difficult public security is, we know how organized organized crime is in this country and around the world, because organized crime has become a multinational corporation of crimes, and they are often far ahead of the state police,” said Lula.
“What we want is to share, we do not want to interfere or give orders, we want to share joint actions with the concrete definition in the Constitution of the role of each one of us”, added the president.
This Thursday, Minister Lewandowski will have a meeting with governors from the South and Southeast, and should present some points of the proposal.
