Bolsonaro says he intends to give raises to all servers, without exception, via PEC dos Precatórios

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) confirmed this Tuesday (16) that he intends to use part of the fiscal slack generated by the possible approval of the PEC dos Precatórios in the granting of salary increases for federal employees.

He made the statements after participating in a business event in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, where he arrived after a three-day visit to Dubai.

“Inflation reached double digits. [ministro da Economia] Paulo Guedes, and in passing the PEC dos Precatórios, there has to be a little space to make some adjustments. not what they [servidores] they deserve it, but it’s what we can give,” he said.

According to Bolsonaro, the urgency of the increase is also due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Because of inflation, the servers have been without adjustment for two years. With the issue of the pandemic, this [aumento] it is even justified, because many people lost their jobs or even had their salary reduced,” he added.

Bolsonaro did not say how much the increase would be, but he said that the entire federal administrative machine would benefit. “[O reajuste é para] All federal employees, without exception,” he said.

The proposed amendment releases around R$90 billion from the budget, through artifices such as changing the way the spending ceiling is calculated, in addition to allowing payment in installments of court orders, which are debts arising from court rulings.

The amendment has already been approved in the Chamber, but it faces more difficulties in the Senate, where it needs to be approved in two rounds with a qualified quorum.

Despite the nod of increases, Bolsonaro says he will remain very restrictive regarding the release of new public tenders for civil servants.

“Public tender [vamos autorizar] just the essentials, as we did with the PF [Polícia Federal] and PRF [Polícia Rodoviária Federal]”.

With these measures, the president declared, his government’s commitment to fiscal balance is maintained. “In this way, we are showing responsibility,” he said.

Several analysts and economists take the opposite view, however, and fear that the rule to artificially expand the spending ceiling will end up creating instability, scaring off investors and fueling inflation.

Still with regard to civil servants, Bolsonaro reaffirmed that the administrative reform, if approved, will not apply to current employees, but only to those who enter the civil service from now on.

The reform, however, is stuck in Congress, with no realistic prospects of being approved by the end of the current administration.

At the event with Bahrain businessmen, the president again painted a rosy picture of his government’s economic performance, despite high unemployment, rising inflation and the prospect of stagnation ahead.

He said that Brazil was one of the five countries in the world that were least affected by Covid, despite the policies of social isolation, which he called ineffective.

On Wednesday (17), Bolsonaro and his delegation should end their tour of the Middle East by visiting Qatar.

In the small and wealthy emirate, the president is scheduled to meet with local authorities and businessmen, as well as a visit to the stadium that will host the World Cup final, next year.

The president also said that he intends to take a motorcycle tour in the country, repeating the motorcycles he has promoted in Brazil. He said he was invited on the tour by a group of Harley Davidson model enthusiasts.

“It’s the first time I’ve been riding a Harley Davidson, but the programming is up to them [organizadores do evento].”