Guedes says he will remain in government if Bolsonaro is reelected

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that he will remain in the government if President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is reelected. “I am tireless when I believe in what needs to be done”, said Guedes, during participation in an event held by the manager Tag Investimentos this Wednesday (17), in São Paulo.

According to the minister, the alliance between liberals and conservatives will continue in an eventual second term of Bolsonaro. “Let’s go, we’re together.”

Guedes also said that the forecasts that point to a slowdown in local activity consider an old economic model in the country, and do not take into account the reforms carried out in recent years, with a reduction in the role of the State.

“We changed the axis of the Brazilian economy,” said Guedes. Data cited by him in the presentation indicated that public investment fell during the Bolsonaro government from around 7% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) to approximately 0.3%, while the private sector has already committed to investing around R$890 billion. in the Brazilian economy over the next ten years.

“Things worked out, the country is moving forward, we are on the path to prosperity,” said the minister, adding that the forecasts that point to a drop in economic activity in the coming months are due, in part, to militancy that is rooting against the government. “Every Noah’s ark has a woodpecker, which it stings to see if the boat sinks.”

Also according to the minister, the postponement in payments of precatories by the government was misinterpreted. “There’s no default,” he says. He stated that the measure was taken to put under the spending ceiling only expenses that are predictable, such as Social Security and interest expenses.

Guedes also said that the packages approved by the government in recent months to help parts of the population with lower purchasing power, such as the PEC das Bondades, are “fully paid”, with an estimate of ending the year with a primary surplus.

“So much money has never been spent, so much money has never been given to states and municipalities, and in the end the GDP debt rose by only 1.7 points,” said the minister.

‘Latin America is falling apart’

The minister said that, because of the economic policy adopted by the government, Brazil has managed to stand out against most of its peers in Latin America.

“Latin America is falling apart. Argentina is falling apart, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela,” he said. Guedes cited the reforms approved in recent years, especially the Social Security, and said that they helped to control the increase in fiscal spending and prevented the country from following the same path as its neighbors. For Guedes, the reforms put Brazil on the “path to prosperity”.

The minister also stated that economists should continue to revise projections for GDP growth and believe in an expansion of economic activity above 2.5%.

He added that, if the government manages to approve the tax reform at the beginning of next year, with the taxation of profits and dividends, it will have enough revenue to finance the increase in Auxílio Brasil and correct the Income Tax table.