Moro defends privatization and free market at investment event

Former judge and presidential candidate Sergio Moro (Podemos) said in a virtual panel on Tuesday night (11) that he believes in the free market and that he intends to deepen privatizations if elected. Former Minister of Justice of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) recorded a lecture lasting about an hour for broadcast at “Money Week”, an event organized by EQI Investimentos in partnership with Empiricus.

During his speech, Moro tried to present himself as an economically responsible candidate and differentiate himself from Bolsonaro, his former ally, and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), who leads polls.

Moro said that the Bolsonaro government has lost fiscal credibility, which has resulted in forecasts of stagnation or even recession for 2022. Union and thus freed up space in the Budget.

He stated that a positive aspect of the approval was the possibility of expanding the Auxílio Brasil cash transfer program, implemented in place of Bolsa Família. He said, however, that the PEC also made room for the growth of parliamentary amendments, “paid without due transparency, in addition to generating the pulverisation of public investments”, he said.

Moro said that the government’s lack of credibility generates an increase in inflation and scares away investors. But, he says, there may be a solution — the growth of the so-called third way.

“Growing other electoral alternatives with more responsible economic policies (…), [isso] can generate a positive bias for the economy. The market often anticipates these positive expectations. This can contribute to an improvement in the scenario as early as 2022 and, certainly, in 2023, if an economically responsible government is elected,” he said.

The former judge repeated a few times that the current scenario is not good, and that “it ends up being even more negative due to the electoral perspective”. “We have two bad alternatives,” he said, referring to Bolsonaro and Lula, whom he condemned in the context of Operation Lava Jato, preventing his candidacy for the presidency in 2018.

The first alternative, said Bolsonaro’s former minister, is the continuity of a government that does not have a project for the country. “And that now has defended policies that have contradicted promises of fiscal stability and public debt reduction”, he said.

The second alternative, Moro continued, “we all remember that it didn’t end well.” The former judge stated that one of the biggest recessions in the country’s history had its seeds generated in the Lula government.

“Especially in the second term, when he was seduced by the Nova Matriz Econômica. [Rousseff] is the same at the end of the Lula government”, he said.

Regarding his proposals, Moro stated that he is a “great defender of free enterprise”, but acknowledged that the State has the role of elaborating consistent social policies.

“The countries in the world that have prospered are those that bet on growth based on private investment. This does not mean that public investment does not play a relevant role, but we cannot base the country’s prosperity on the public sector,” he said.

The former judge defended privatizations, saying that the State has an important role in the economy, but not necessarily involved in the production of goods and services. “The State must be involved in education, health, security. Other areas we can consider reducing its presence.”

Moro also said that privatizations can increase efficiency, but that the model needs to be discussed. “It’s no use doing something badly done like the federal government did recently in the privatization of Eletrobras. Real tortoises were put in place, measures that end up restricting the efficiency of the market, creating niches to meet special interests”, he said.

The former minister also said that he intends to create a task force to eradicate poverty, in the form of a national agency that allows for transversal action, using the capacity of several ministries.

“It would not necessarily involve holding new competitions and increasing state bureaucracy. Our idea is to use the best we have within the public service and bring together this qualified body within a specific agency with this mission,” he said.

Moro also spoke about sustainability and the environment, saying that the country is characterized abroad as an “environmental villain” and that this creates difficulties in attracting foreign investment. He defended guaranteeing the populations of the Amazon the right to development, but also developing effective actions to preserve the forest.

The former judge again addressed the fight against corruption, “always a sand in the gears of the economy”. He stated that corruption generates inefficient public investments and that the least corrupt countries in the world usually have the highest HDI.

“It is not only bad for the public coffers, but also harms the private sector because it favors a business model based not on innovation, on competition, but on approximation with the powerful”, he said.

“The fight against corruption is in my DNA. We are going to put the fight back on track. It is not a revenge project, as some mistakenly say. Justice is not revenge, it is simply the rule of law. Whoever steals, pays or receives bribes has to suffer the consequences.”