Discussions about tax changes are ruled out until the middle of the year, says Tebet

Discussions about changing the fiscal target are ruled out until the middle of the year. The statements were made by the Minister of Planning, Simone Tebet, this Saturday, in an interview with CNN Brasil.

According to her, the zero deficit target set for this year will be maintained “at least until the end of the year”, when the scenario will have to be reevaluated. A possible surplus target of 0.25% of GDP for next year should be discussed.

“The LDO [Lei de Diretrizes Orçamentárias] is coming [deve ser apresentada
até 15 de abril]. We will present some proposals to the economic team and we will analyze together whether we will be able to set the target of 0.5% positive in the LDO, that is, to have a surplus, depending on a series of situations”, he stated. She acknowledged that the public spending review progressed slowly in 2023 and that revenue was the economic team’s driving force.

The minister said that the government has been adopting measures to combat fraud and inefficiencies, but has not advanced the relevance of public policies in relation to their cost. Tebet stated that among the measures adopted were the fine-tooth comb in the single registry of Bolsa Família beneficiaries and the mapping of inefficiencies and fraud in Social Security.

“Last year was a year of spending well, so we weren’t worried about saving. We were concerned about guaranteeing the quality of public spending, about recovering public policies.”