The Employment portfolio holder also said that two issues should help the economy in 2026: the real increase in the minimum wage and the expansion of the IR exemption range
The Minister of Labor and Employment, said this Thursday (27), that it is urgent for the Central Bank (BC) to have the “sensitivity” to understand that it is necessary to cut the basic interest rate, the Selic, currently at 15.0%. “If not, the curve will soon reverse. There will no longer be small growth and there will begin to be a real decrease,” the minister told journalists. Marinho attributed the low result of the New General Register of Employed and Unemployed Persons () in October to the current level of the rate.
85,147 formal jobs were created in the country last month, below the market median, which expected 120,000 new vacancies. “It is time, more than urgent, for the Central Bank to take measures in relation to monitoring interest rates, because there is a great understanding that this is what is inhibiting the pace of investments”, said Marinho, when commenting on the Caged data at a press conference.
He said that, since May, he has been drawing the monetary authority’s attention to the process of economic slowdown. Marinho pointed out that the year 2025 is a given, but said that the BC needs to show the guidelines it is working with for next year so as to “not make a mistake in the economy”, which, in his view, could lead it to “enter into a process of decline, even harming the level of job creation in the country”.
The head of the Employment portfolio also said that two issues should help the economy in 2026: the real increase in the minimum wage and the expansion of the Income Tax (IR) exemption range. “But it was necessary for the Central Bank to make a contribution, in addition to that”, he added. “You have to release investment to expand the country’s production capacity, which is another way to control inflation. It’s not just through restrictions due to high interest rates. I would say that this is not the smartest way to monitor the economy in this regard.”
Finally, the minister said he hoped that “economic knowledge can help the Central Bank find the target to take the right shot”.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
