Haddad from Brazil says measures to stabilize financial regulations must be discussed with Lula By Reuters
Hosted by Marcela Ayres
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Brazil’s Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, said on Wednesday that a “solution” to ensure the stability of the country’s financial framework will be discussed with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva when Haddad returns from Washington.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, where he attended the IMF/World Bank and G20 meetings, Haddad said he was more concerned about the international situation, amid the volatility caused by the US election affecting markets, than the domestic situation. He emphasized the positive momentum of the Brazilian economy.
Asked about the high level of future interest rates, Haddad recalled that last year there was a period of depression visible in the yield curve, which later subsided.
“These things usually go like this, there is a cloud of uncertainty, you explain yourself, you make decisions, move forward with the agenda, and then that cloud disappears, returning things to normal,” he said.
“We have a challenge to face, and I’m calm about it. I’m more concerned about the international situation than the domestic one right now.”
Haddad said his department is working to strengthen the financial framework adopted last year by Lula’s administration, which puts a major limit on the growth of expenses in line with the budget targets.
The market has expressed concern about the sustainability of the framework due to the rapid growth of mandatory spending, such as pensions and certain social programs, which limit other expenses within the limit, which casts doubt on the long-term effectiveness of the framework.
Haddad said there is an overreaction to the assessment that the government is not paying attention to public funds.
“All the forecasts for the first years of the deficit were worse than what will happen, worse, and this is not seen,” he said, stressing that the government will bring the deficit within the official target band this year. .
The official goal is to eliminate the primary deficit, with a tolerance limit of 0.25% of GDP, which means the government can run a primary deficit of up to 29 billion reais.
