Lula says he will not have a spending cap in his government

Former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Wednesday (11) that he will not have a cat roof in his government, if elected president.

“There will be no spending cap in my government. Not that I will be irresponsible, spend to indebted the nation’s future. It will have to spend on what is necessary,” he said.

During a meeting with deans of Minas Gerais universities in Juiz de Fora (MG), the former president said it was necessary to invest in profitable assets, education being one of them.

Lula also said that what reduces the weight of expenses in relation to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is economic growth, not budget cuts.

A leader in electoral polls, he also stated that the Bolsonaro government does not know what it is doing in the economy and reinforced his speech against privatization.

“I want to say to the Brazilian government and businessmen: ‘Stop trying to privatize our public companies.’ Whoever starts to buy Petrobras will have to talk to us after the elections. Caixa Econômica, the BNDES. Learn to work, to invest, to make economic policy instead of selling things that are already ready”, said Lula.

Speaking to supporters during a plenary session in the city of Juiz de Fora, he also commented on the change in command of the Ministry of Mines and Energy when criticizing the price of fuel.

“The president of the Republic, instead of having the courage to get his hands dirty and solve the problem, he keeps changing the president of Petrobras and the minister of Energy. He doesn’t know what he’s doing in this country,” he said.

Bolsonaro appointed Adolfo Sachsida as the new minister of Mines and Energy, replacing Bento Albuquerque. The exchange comes days after Petrobras announced a new diesel price adjustment.

The former president also stated that “half of the inflation” that affects the country is a result of controlled prices, such as electricity and fuel.

This Wednesday, the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) announced that the IPCA, the country’s official inflation index, remains in the double digits in the 12-month period. The rise in prices is one of Bolsonaro’s main concerns in an election year.