I feel less in the frying pan and the friendly fire has diminished, says Haddad – 07/10/2023 – Market

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said he felt the pressure against him from allies and opponents was diminishing.

“The friend and the enemy. The fire has subsided. I’m feeling less in the frying pan than I was three months ago”, replied Haddad, when asked about the topic on the podcast O Subject.

“There were a lot of people in the so-called Faria Lima who said ‘Haddad can’t be Minister of Economy’. Either he didn’t follow my work in the city hall, or in the Ministry of Economy or he didn’t read what I wrote in my whole life”, he continued.

Haddad won victories in recent weeks, such as the approval of the Tax Reform project in the Chamber of Deputies, which also approved changes in the Carf rules.

At the same time, economic indicators have improved in recent months, such as the appreciation of the real against the dollar and the reduction in inflation expectations.

During the articulation for the approval of the Tax Reform, Haddad approached Arthur Lira (PP-AL), president of the Chamber of Deputies, and Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), governor of São Paulo.

The minister said that the negotiation with names linked to the right represents a return to “politics with a capital P” and that the conversation with Lira recalled the negotiation to bring Lula and Geraldo Alckmin closer together, to assemble the 2022 presidential ticket.

Last week, Haddad and Tarcísio held a press conference together, which irritated former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Tarcísio and Bolsonaro had friction after that, as the former president was against the Tax Reform, and the governor defended it.

“Tarcísio was in a complicated situation. He was against centralized collection, something fundamental for the reform to work. We offered a solution with two criteria. When we presented it to him, I saw that he relaxed. Then he said: let’s go down and give the good news to the country. I never worried about what Bolsonaro will think of a photo of me with the governor of São Paulo”, said the minister.