Less than 30% of parliamentarians evaluate the Lula government’s fiscal policy as positive

Research released by “Ranking dos Políticos” shows that less than 30% of deputies and senators evaluate the Lula (PT) government’s fiscal policy as positive. The survey, released this Monday (18), shows that among members of the Chamber of Deputies, 27.9% believe in fiscal policy; 36.6% consider it bad/very bad; 36.5% rate it as regular. In the Senate, the positive and negative evaluation in this regard is the same, with 28.6%; and 40.9% classify it as regular.

Fernando Haddad’s tenure at the helm of the Ministry of Finance is “better evaluated than the government’s fiscal policy as a whole by parliamentarians”, reported the survey. Among deputies, 46.2% consider Haddad’s administration to be excellent/good; 25% think it is regular; and 28.8% consider it bad/very bad. While in the Senate, 47.6% of those interviewed evaluated the minister’s performance as excellent/good; 28.6% think it is regular; and 23.8% believe it is bad/very bad.

Asked about the zero deficit target for 2024, considered one of the economic team’s biggest challenges, the majority of deputies (72.1%) and two thirds of senators do not believe that the Lula government will be able to achieve it. In the Chamber, 27.9% believe that the government will achieve the goal. In the Senate, 66.7% think the goal will not be achieved and 33.3% say it will be.

The Finance Minister himself has already admitted that the goal is a “challenge”, but highlighted that the economic team is committed to rebalancing public accounts. The “Politicians Ranking” has been operating since 2011 and stated that its surveys “take into account the anti-waste, anti-corruption and anti-privilege pillars”.

Methodology: The research was carried out using a structured questionnaire, applied to a total of 104 federal deputies representing 21 different parties, as well as 22 senators from 13 different parties, respecting the criterion of party proportionality. The interviews were carried out on September 12th and 13th, 2023.