The executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, said on Tuesday (1) that the macroeconomic scenario may allow, “soon”, a reversal of the current rise cycle of the basic interest rate, Selic, currently at 15% per year, after raising 0.25 percentage point at the last Copom meeting.
During an event on governance and artificial intelligence held at the headquarters of BNDES, in Rio de Janeiro, Durigan pointed out that inflationary indicators begin to show slowdown, which can make room for revision of monetary policy.
“There are a lot of people who complain about inflation. We should always worry about inflation, but it starts to fall. May and June show that, in the 12 -month period, inflation begins to give signs of fall, giving us conditions to review monetary policy and get lower interest rates in the country,” said the secretary.
Although he avoided commenting directly on the next steps of the Central Bank, Durigan argued that the foundations of the Brazilian economy are positive and support a change of scenario.
“I have no intention of commenting, speaking, or guiding any question about monetary policy. But I think we have to recognize that the country’s situation and conditions today are very good. We will soon be able to reverse the discharge of interest.”
Defense of economic policy
The statements were accompanied by a defense of the Lula government’s economic policy, which according to Durigan has guaranteed consistent growth.
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“In this government of President Lula, every quarter Brazil has grown consistently. And we expect them to follow this tune until the end of next year.”
The secretary also reiterated support to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, who has been the government’s main economic articulator and a central figure in the crisis involving the IOF decree.
“I am very proud to be with Minister Haddad and can deliver these good results to the country, which is not always easy.”
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IOF and Balance between Powers
Asked about the decision of the government of, Durigan endorsed the argument of the Attorney General of the Union, stating that the action has less political or economic connotation and more relationship with the preservation of the executive’s competences.
“The Union’s attorney general said that it is a less political, less economic issue. It is more to preserve the prerogatives and competences of the executive branch. I agree with this view.”
Still, he acknowledged that Congress has constitutional prerogatives and that the overthrow of the decree was a decision of merit, not an extrapolation of powers.
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“The decision of the Congress was of merit, a negative to the content of the decree, and not pointing out a scope extravasation. Congress also has the prerogative of giving the final word into certain subjects.”
Durigan adopted a conciliatory Tom by addressing the current institutional crisis and noise between executive, legislature and judiciary.
“You are following the amount of problem and noise we have. But I think it’s part of democracy and institutional dialogue.”
