If there is hunger, PEC of the billions is not electoral, says Guedes

A day after Congress approved the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that boosts the granting of social benefits less than three months before the elections, Minister Paulo Guedes (Economy) denied that the measure has an electoral nature.

“If there is hunger in Brazil, if people are cooking with wood, this program is not electoral. Or it is electoral and there was no one going hungry”, he said.

The statements were made by Guedes this Thursday (14th) during the release of the macroeconomic indicators of the Ministry of Economy.

Among the measures foreseen by the PEC are the raising of the Auxílio Brasil floor to R$ 600, the creation of a monthly allowance for truck drivers of R$ 1,000 and the doubling of the Auxílio Gás amount to around R$ 120. The total cost estimated is R$ 41.25 billion, above the R$ 38.75 billion originally signaled.

The package, which has the potential to boost Bolsonaro’s popularity in the dispute for the Planalto with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), had broad support, including the opposition, which pointed to the electoral bias of the concession. Currently, the president appears in second place in the polls.

The text approved in the Chamber also provides for the recognition of a “state of emergency”, giving more legal certainty for the government to carry out the measures, circumventing legal impediments, especially related to the electoral process.

The PEC allows President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) to break the spending ceiling, but Guedes said that the country’s fiscal situation will not be harmed.

“We have unbudgeted extraordinary revenues and we have unbudgeted extraordinary revenues, around R$57 billion, which exactly cover the PEC of R$41 billion, plus the tax reduction of around R$16 billion”, stated.

The minister also emphasized that the expansion of social benefits in force until the end of the year will not be permanent. “The fiscal is strong and all measures are temporary. There is no provision for a permanent increase in expenses”, he pointed out.

According to Guedes, the protocol followed by the government was similar to that adopted during the Covid-19 pandemic, going through infraconstitutional measures, followed by temporary emergency actions.

The minister defended that the transfer of income is the “technically correct” way to deal with the problems aggravated by the War in Ukraine, with the rise in food and fuel prices.

“Taxi drivers received help, truck drivers received help, the vulnerable received help, the elderly received help in public transport, this is the technically correct way. They are direct transfers of income, instead of subsidies”, he extolled.

“That’s why it’s a PEC of Goodness, and not a PEC Kamikaze, as some called it”, he continued.