The Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, said this Wednesday, 22, that the federal government will seek interventions to make food cheaper. According to him, there will be meetings with the Ministries of Agriculture, Agrarian Development and Finance on the subject. He made the statement in an interview with the program Good morning, Ministerdo CanalGovthe institutional vehicle of the federal government.
Inflation is one of the federal government’s biggest concerns. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva fears that rising food prices will affect his popularity.
Rui Costa stated that there will be conversations with other ministries linked to the issue of food “to seek a set of interventions that signal the reduction of food prices”. He also stated that, in the first two months of the year, measures suggested by supermarkets will be implemented to try to contain prices.
The Minister of the Civil House stated that the weather affected the harvest last year, and that this contributed to food inflation. According to him, the expectation is for an increase in the main harvests this year, which would contribute to a drop in these values.
“There is no point in wages rising if prices rise in the same proportion”, declared Rui Costa. He stated that Lula has two main commitments, with social inclusion – which includes assistance programs, works and other actions – and fiscal balance. “If you don’t have fiscal balance, those who pay the most expensive bills are the poorest people,” he stated.
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“At any time, whenever necessary, we will make any adjustments that need to be made to the fiscal commitment. The government can only spend what it collects, if it does not generate inflation, it generates bad expectations for the country”, said the Minister of the Civil House.
The head of the Civil House also mentioned cuts made by the government in the past. Rui Costa had already made similar statements about fiscal policy on Monday, 20th, after a ministerial meeting promoted by Lula in Brasília. The Executive tries to keep financial market expectations about its debt under control. Deteriorations in expectations cause the dollar to rise, for example.
