Economic team predicts problems after Lula’s neglect of fiscal target

The economic team of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) government did not go down well with the president’s statement that the government’s fiscal target for next year does not need to be zero deficit in 2024, as Finance Minister Fernando had been defending. Haddad. “I know Haddad’s disposition, I know Haddad’s will, I know my disposition: I can already tell you that we will hardly reach goal zero”, he stated.

The comment made during breakfast with journalists this Friday (27) took the team, including Haddad, by surprise at a time when the minister is trying to negotiate measures with Congress to balance the public budget, especially in the first year of the fiscal framework. . Among the ongoing negotiations is the taxation of the “super-rich” which still needs to go through the Senate after approval in the Chamber of Deputies and the taxation of ICMS tax benefits which will yield more than R$35 billion more per year in revenue.

According to Sheet, government interlocutors said they feared that parliamentarians would be discouraged from voting on measures that would increase revenue. Lula stated that the zero fiscal target will hardly be achieved because he does not want to promote cuts in investments and works, among which would be the great asset of his government, the New PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) with public investments in the order of R$ 371 billion in next years.

Changes to next year’s fiscal target, although considered by members of the government, are not openly addressed and are met with resistance in the Treasury.

Soon after Lula’s statement, parliamentarians had already sought out members linked to the ministry led by Haddad to find out what they thought about the matter. Some would have already recognized that, despite the defense of maintaining and achieving the goal, it will be up to Lula to make the final move.