Haddad and Tebet praise the milder tone of the Copom minutes

The ministers of Finance, Fernando Haddad, and of Planning, Simone Tebet, praised the fact that the directors of the Central Bank (BC) waved with the possibility of cutting interest rates in August. With a milder tone than last week’s statement, the minutes of the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom), released this Tuesday (27), were well received by the government’s economic area.

During the launch ceremony of the Crop Plan, at the Planalto Palace, Tebet stated that the document is in a more “realistic” tone than the communiqué issued shortly after the Copom decision, last Wednesday (21). Last week, the Copom decided to maintain the Selic rate at 13.75% per annum. Traditionally, the minutes are released six days after the end of each Central Bank collegiate meeting.

“[A ata] came showing that there are signs of a drop in interest rates as of August. And also guaranteeing what we are already sure we are doing. If you look at the divergence of some votes in the minutes, it shows that they already recognize the work of the economic team. We are not just planting seeds, we are planting credibility, legal certainty, predictability for Brazil. And the minutes have recognized this. Now the only thing missing is August for them to start lowering interest rates,” said Tebet.

Before going to the Planalto Palace to launch the Safra Plan, Haddad also commented on the Copom minutes, reported Agência Brasil. For the Minister of Finance, the document indicates that a large part of the BC’s board recognizes the efforts of the economic team and that there is a consensus that the Selic (basic interest rate for the economy), at 13.75% per year since August last year , peaked and will begin to decline in the second half.

“The fact that there is a clear signal from a good part of the board [do Banco Central] that the effects of high interest rates produced the results [conter a inflação] and the tax risk [risco de descontrole das contas públicas] away is the most important thing”, said the minister.

Haddad once again defended the harmonization between monetary (interest rate setting) and fiscal (public spending control) policies and said that the tone of the Copom minutes opens space for this to happen soon, with the drop in basic interest rates. “Brazil is on a sustainable fiscal trajectory and, therefore, the harmonization of fiscal policy with monetary policy, which is something I have been advocating since December, I believe it could happen soon,” said Haddad.

The Minister of Planning criticized the difference in tone between the communiqué issued shortly after the Copom meeting and the minutes published this Tuesday. “Again, the minutes came almost contrary to what is said in the communiqué. This is a fact that the Central Bank needs to review, it creates an unnecessary stress situation in the communiqué and then comes with a more realistic minutes. constructive criticism. May this be reviewed by the Central Bank,” said Tebet.