Haddad: IMF proposes team to debate fiscal rule – 01/17/2023 – Market

The Minister of Economy, Fernando Haddad, met this Tuesday afternoon (17) with the director general of the IMF (International Monetary Fund), Kristalina Georgieva, to talk about the plans of the Lula government in the fiscal area.

“The IMF, aware of the Brazilian debate on the fiscal anchor, placed a technical team at Brazil’s disposal so that Brazil knows all the rules currently in force and their opinion on which are working and which are not working so well” , said Haddad in Davos, where he is attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

The idea, he added, is to bring a proposal to Congress that is “more credible and sustainable”.

The Treasury hopes to present the fiscal framework in April and, by the end of the semester, approve the tax reform.

The minister also stated that the fund highlighted the importance of the country’s political and social responsibility, in addition to fiscal responsibility: “Combining fiscal and social responsibility is important even for the IMF.”

Asked about possible fears of foreign investors, Haddad minimized the concern with an overflow of expenses. “Our target is that expenditures and revenues return to pre-pandemic and pre-election levels, where revenues and expenditures were very close to each other,” he said.

He also repeated that foreign investors have a great interest in the country and that the environment and respect for democracy agendas have gained relevance.

In addition to Georgieva, Haddad met this Tuesday with representatives of the governments of Saudi Arabia and Colombia.