Haddad must present new fiscal framework on Wednesday

The bill with the new fiscal framework may come out this Wednesday (5), said the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad. Second, he and the technical teams from the Ministries of Finance and Planning are working to complete the text this week. If this is not possible, the bill will be sent to the National Congress next Monday (10).

“The teams have been working on this since Friday (31). They worked over the weekend. As there is no session in Congress, they will take advantage of these days to calibrate. But, certainly before the 15th (deadline for sending the budgetary guidelines bill), it will be in the National Congress. It might be (later this week). I will be here, Rui (Costa, Minister of the Civil House) will be here, Simone (Tebet, Minister of Planning) will be here. If it’s ready sooner, we’ll ship it Wednesday. If not, you can go on Monday of next week”, declared Haddad this Monday when he arrived at the Ministry of Finance.

According to the minister, the proposal to boost collection between R$ 100 billion and R$ 150 billion should be sent together with the complementary bill of the new framework. “At most, it will be a day apart,” he said.

Haddad did not provide details, but said that one of the axes consists of taxing sectors that are not paying taxes, such as certain e-commerce companies, which generate losses of R$ 7 billion to R$ 8 billion per year to the public coffers through what classified as disguised contraband. “The problem is smuggling. E-commerce is good for the country, it stimulates competition. What we have to curb is smuggling, which harms those who pay tax”, he clarified.

The minister said that the submission of the two proposals – fiscal framework and reinforcement of revenues – to the National Congress will facilitate the discussion of policies that allow the reduction of interest rates in the medium term. “I think that, forwarding it to Congress, this will already open up an important space for discussion. With the measures that will be added to the framework, which is the recovery of the fiscal base of the Federal Budget, this will provide conditions for us to proceed, harmonizing fiscal and monetary policy”, he added.

Banco Central

Still this Monday, Haddad has a meeting with the president of the Central Bank (BC), Roberto Campos Neto. The minister said that he will discuss various matters with the BC president, including the new fiscal framework, but informed that he will not discuss the Datafolha poll that revealed that 80% of Brazilians support President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s criticism of high interest rates.

“In fact, we are not going to discuss (opinion) research with the Central Bank. We are going to technically discuss the alternatives we have to make the economy grow without inflation, generating jobs and income distribution”, concluded the minister.