Guedes defends exemption from the leaf on health and says that the impact is ‘not amazing’

The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, defended this Thursday (13) the exemption of the payroll in the health area, promised by the president and candidate for re-election, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), to offset the cost of paying the minimum wage. of nursing.

Guedes said he received a call from Bolsonaro in the morning suggesting the tax cut, which already exists for 17 other categories, and said that the impact on government revenue should be between R$1.5 billion and R$2.5 billion. “The number is not staggering. As it is a common number, I told the president that it seems reasonable.”

“There’s a candidate there promising a lot of things he’ll never do, why won’t the president do something that can be done?”, said the minister, who defended a general exemption to take workers out of informality.

Guedes is in Washington to attend the annual meetings of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank. This Thursday (13), he participated in a meeting with the new Minister of Economy of Argentina, Sergio Massa. At the event, convened by the Argentines, according to Guedes, Massa dealt with financing from bodies such as the Inter-American Development Bank for projects in Argentina that can benefit the region, and asked for Brazil’s support in claims of the type – this is the case of a gas pipeline in the region of Vaca Muerta, in Patagonia, for example. “Argentina has a lot of gas and Brazil is looking for reindustrialization in cheap energy,” said Guedes.

For the minister, the ideological line of the Buenos Aires government, led by the leftist Alberto Fernández, of whom Bolsonaro is a constant critic, has not been an impediment to commercial dialogues. “It’s good for the region,” said Guedes, who reiterated that he envisions a future with a single currency for America, a “real peso”, along the lines of the euro in Europe.

Asked if he asked for Argentina’s support for a Brazilian nomination for the presidency of the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), which the Brazilian government should do within the next two weeks, Guedes denied it, but said he has had informal conversations on the matter.

In the afternoon, Guedes met with the secretary-general of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Mathias Cormann — Brazil is seeking a place in the so-called club of rich countries. With Cormann, they discussed the progress of the country’s candidacy, with a tax and environmental treaty. To journalists, the minister said he hopes that the membership will be completed by next year.

Guedes also spoke with the director general of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonio-Iweala. The minister stated that he will appoint Ambassador Sarquis José Buainain Sarquis, currently Secretary of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs at Itamaraty, to occupy the position of Brazilian delegate to the World Trade Organization in place of diplomat Alexandre Parola, whose term ends in soon. The nomination needs Senate approval.

Earlier, in the morning, Guedes attended a breakfast with G20 finance ministers, convened by India. The minister has defended, along with India and Indonesia, the creation of a new model of environmental compensation by which rich countries pay for the preservation of the environment, in the purchase of carbon credits, for example.

In the afternoon, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) met at the IMF, which discusses threats to the stability of the global financial market. According to the minister, there was a consensus that the risks have been rising more and more, with the end of the Ukrainian War beyond the near horizon.

On Wednesday (12), Guedes had already participated in two G20 meetings, in which he once again defended Brazil’s role in guaranteeing food and energy security in the world, and affirmed that the country is in transition to a digital and green economy.

The president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, also participated in the event. He has a busy schedule in the American capital and met this Thursday with the heads of a series of investment funds – BlackRock, Discovery Capital Management, Kirkoswald and Roubini Macro. He also attended a dinner hosted by the Fed, the US central bank, with presidents of a number of central banks.

On Friday (14), it participates in meetings with investors organized by Itaú and the bank UBS-BB, in addition to an event at the Treasury Department. Guedes will also speak with executives at an event promoted by Itaú, in addition to participating in IMF meetings.