Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said he will meet President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva this Thursday (21) to talk about the public spending cut package. The measures have been expected by the market for weeks, and the delay has caused damage to the government’s image in relation to its commitment to public accounts.
“I’m going to have a meeting tomorrow just with the president,” Haddad told journalists before going to the dinner hosted by Lula, with members of the government, for the Chinese dictator, Xi Jinping, at the Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília.
The main areas affected are Education, Health and Defense. Haddad acknowledged the pressure to avoid cuts in social areas, but defended the adjustments as essential to guarantee fiscal balance.
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According to the minister, the package seeks to correct distortions and prevent the fiscal framework from losing credibility, which would compromise confidence in the economy.
In recent weeks, Hadadd has been making cuts with the ministries. The last pending item was Defense, with whom the minister reached an agreement on Tuesday. .
According to behind-the-scenes reports, Haddad signaled to Congressional leadership and party leaders that the package, which foresees savings of R$25 billion to R$30 billion in 2025 and R$40 billion in 2026, includes changes in the adjustment of the minimum wage, adjustments to the criteria of social programs, such as Bolsa Família, and a fight against what the minister calls “super salaries”.
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