Bolsonaro wants to discuss change in spending ceiling after election

President Jair Bolsonaro said this Friday (29) that he intends to discuss, after the elections, an amendment to the constitutional amendment that created the spending ceiling with the aim of allowing the use of resources for infrastructure works in case of excess revenue. of taxes.

“Last year, we had an excess of revenue, more revenue, around R$ 300 billion. You can’t use a penny of that on infrastructure given the constitutional amendment of the ceiling back there. That’s why many people argue that you have to something is changed, we will leave it for the future, after the elections, to discuss this issue”, he said, in an interview with Rádio Metrópole FM, from Cuiabá (MT).

Bolsonaro’s comment came after he complained about the Ministry of Infrastructure’s budget, which, according to him, is currently R$8 billion and that it would not be possible to meet the demands in the country for this area.

The constitutional amendment to the spending cap, approved in 2016 by the National Congress to contain public spending, limits the growth of federal spending to the variation of inflation.

Bolsonaro is in second place in polls of intention to vote for reelection, behind former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Economy was not oriented to study change in the ceiling and disagrees with flexibility

The Economy Ministry has not received guidance from the government to study a change in the spending cap and does not agree with a relaxation of the rule, three sources in the economic team told Reuters after the president’s statement.

According to two officials from the economic team, the area responsible for managing the Ministry’s Budget has not received any demand from the government to evaluate initiatives in this regard.

“The ceiling is still very important. When we have a surplus, we can think about improvements,” said one of the members of the portfolio.

The current official government projection points out that the federal accounts will return to the blue only in 2025.

A third source stated that no type of flexibility in the spending ceiling is under discussion in the folder. The economic model of the current administration prioritizes a reduction in public spending and stimulation of private investments.

This member of the portfolio stressed that the ministry has plans to resume public investment, but through another mechanism that would not reach the spending ceiling.

The plan prepared internally by the Ministry of Economy provides for the directing of resources from privatizations to funds that could, among other functions, finance infrastructure works. The proposal has not yet been formally presented.