There is a lack of a finance minister, says Jaques Wagner

Senator Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) said this Thursday (24th) that a Minister of Finance from the elected government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is missing to facilitate negotiations involving the PEC (Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution) of the Transition.

Wagner spoke briefly to journalists as he left the CCBB (Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil), headquarters of the transitional government. He was chosen by the PT to try to reverse the difficulties that the party encountered in the Senate with the proposal, seen as fundamental to release expenses outside the spending ceiling and enable the fulfillment of promises made during the election campaign.

The senator was asked about the difficulties faced by the PT in reaching an agreement on the Transition PEC and whether the presence of an articulator in the House would be lacking. “I think that, for the time being, there is still a Minister of Finance,” he said, emphasizing that it was just an “opinion”, but that he would talk to Lula in São Paulo, on Friday.

The proposal, which removes the Bolsa Família from the spending cap and allows the execution of other expenses, was originally presented by the vice president-elect Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) to party leaders last week without a defined deadline – which, in practice, would make the measure permanent.

Next, Wagner stressed that “no one will do anything alone.” “I’m helping because this is my experience as a political organizer, but I’m not the one doing it alone, so there are a lot of people involved. They want to put everything on my shoulders,” he said.

The senator once again defended the four-year deadline to remove Bolsa Família from the spending cap. The measure is seen by the party as fundamental to guarantee the fulfillment of electoral promises. The PT wants at least R$ 175 billion outside the spending ceiling.

In addition to the value approved outside the ceiling, the shortfall already foreseen for the year is around R$ 63 billion, an amount that will have to be financed by the government, at high interest rates (expectations are that the Selic, today at 13 .75%, remains at this level at least until mid-2023)

“A period of four years is our desire. But in democracy you don’t always get your wish fulfilled,” he pointed out. When asked if two years was a reasonable time, he joked: “Between one and four, there’s two and three.”

The senator and Lula will meet this Friday (25th) in São Paulo to discuss the general framework of the PEC.

As shown to Sheetthe top of the National Congress and party leaders concluded that the only has a chance of being approved if it has a maximum term of two years.

The PT’s view is that, if the discussions move towards an even greater dehydration regarding the term, lasting one year, the effort would no longer be worth it because the elected government could look for easier ways to execute the expenses.