Quoted for Fazenda, Haddad meets with Guedes and sets agenda for meetings with secretaries

Quoted for the Ministry of Finance of the elected government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Fernando Haddad met this Thursday morning (8), in Brasília, with the current minister of the portfolio, Paulo Guedes, and defined an agenda of work to have a broader view of the current situation of the Ministry of Economy.

Starting next Tuesday (13th), Haddad foresees meetings with the Secretariats of the National Treasury, the Federal Revenue Service, among others, to see what situation the new government will find at the beginning of the mandate.

“We need to sit down with the secretaries of the folders so that we know the work routine, the agendas that were in progress, what was delivered, what were the future perspectives of each secretariat, what needs to be continued, the matrix of risk on problems that may be found at the beginning of the year”, he said.

“A natural, normal transition, we want it to be as smooth as possible, with the developments that we all expect for Brazil to grow more”, he continued.

According to Haddad, the recent budget cuts that could cause a blackout in the public machine at the end of the current government were not discussed with Guedes. Areas such as Health, Education, Environment and Justice are strangled, and some activities are being paralyzed.

On Wednesday (7), the Ministry of Economy announced the reallocation of BRL 3.3 billion in expenses that were classified as mandatory for discretionary spending. Of the total, the Ministry of Health accounts for R$ 2.3 billion. There are also reallocations of BRL 300 million in the Economy, Education and Citizenship portfolios, in addition to other changes in smaller amounts.

But the petista assured that there will be an “effort” so that there is no discontinuity of essential programs for the Brazilian population. “We will take the necessary steps,” he said. According to him, Congress is “part of the solution”.

Haddad described the conversation with Guedes as “excellent”, “cordial”, “polite” and “transparent”. In a meeting that lasted an hour and a half, the former mayor of São Paulo said he had spoken about “almost all important issues”, but that there was little time to detail the discussions.

“The general flight plan was dealt with, as much of what he [Guedes] understands how to bequeath to the country, as to what we intend to do next year. That kind of conversation is very important,” he said.

Haddad says he met with Guedes as a member of the government transition economics working group. The current minister of the portfolio, however, had a meeting on November 24 with Nelson Barbosa and Guilherme Mello, other members of the transition team.

“This type of conversation is very important because you guarantee that many important projects can be continued, as far as Congress has advanced in the agenda that matters to the Brazilian state, regardless of government,” he said.

As for the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Transition, approved by the Senate with a term of two years and an impact of R$ 168 billion, Haddad said that the fact that the solution is being political is its greatest merit.

“Almost all parties participated in the approval, there was no party split, precisely because people are understanding that next year’s Budget cannot be smaller than this year’s Budget”, he said.

The PEC expands the spending ceiling by BRL 145 billion in 2023 and 2024 for the payment of the Auxílio Brasil (which will once again be called Bolsa Família) and releases another BRL 23 billion for investments outside the cap in case of extraordinary revenue collection .

The text went to the Chamber of Deputies, where it will need the approval of 308 parliamentarians. The proposal is expected to be discussed next week.