Gleisi defends revision of the fiscal target by Lula, against Haddad

The national president of the PT, deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), came out in defense of the statement given by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) on Friday (27) that the government would “hardly” reach its own fiscal target of deficit in 2024.

In an interview with the newspaper Economic value published this Saturday (28), she stated that Lula only “assumed responsibility” by saying that the goal was “unfeasible”, including to maintain “the investments necessary for the country to develop, generate jobs and have growth”.

For Gleisi, by discarding the fiscal target, the president would also have warned Congress and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, to “take measures that must be taken”.

The deputy sought to show that the statement does not embarrass Haddad, but made a point of saying that the agenda does not belong to the minister, but “to the president”. This stance conflicts with the opinion of experts, who consider the effort to balance public accounts essential to give credibility to the new fiscal framework.

In search of additional revenues totaling R$168 billion, to be obtained mainly by approving proposals for new taxation under the analysis of Congress and then aimed at the goal of zero deficit, Haddad now finds himself facing new challenges.

Opposition politicians and economists see the disauthorization that the minister suffered from Lula as a stimulus for the economic team to suffer even more pressure for spending. Furthermore, there is a risk of slowing down efforts to approve fundraising projects.

Gleisi Hoffmann refutes these fears, remembering that the Chamber has already approved the taxation measures for the so-called super-rich funds and that, in any case, the zero deficit target would already be overestimated, according to the impression of the market itself.

“Analysts price the deficit in 2024 at 0.8% of GDP, saying that it is really difficult, and if [a meta] is not met, there are measures in the framework to be compensated for the following year”, she stated in the interview.

For the PT president there was “much ado about nothing” and the goals cannot “stop the government”. “You can’t have a zero fiscal target and a thousand hunger,” she said, in a veiled criticism of PT member Haddad. She trusts in adjustments that deputy Danilo Forte (União Brasil-CE), rapporteur of the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO), will make after the president’s “reality shock”.

Fortes’ first reaction was bad, calling the abandonment of the target “disruptive” and embarrassing for the Finance Minister. “Lula threw in the towel,” said the deputy.