Minister criticizes parliamentarians and defends PEC to limit amendments

Minister Renan Filho, of Transport, criticized the record reserve of R$48 billion that parliamentarians approved in this year’s Budget to comply with amendments, and which became an arm wrestling match between government allies and Congress. The amount led President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to veto R$5.6 billion in commission amendments, which deepened the crisis between the Executive and the Legislative.

Renan Filho states that he is not against the allocation of amendments by parliamentarians, and that they have a relevant role in guaranteeing the arrival of resources that the federal government is unable to reach. However, he pointed out that the volume needs to be regulated, with a limit so as not to affect the Union’s investments.

“The ideal is for Parliament to know how much it will have in proportion to discretionary spending and for the Executive and Legislative branches to work together to expand it. What has happened is non-discretionary spending [obrigatório] growing annually and compressing other expenses. And now, in addition, the amendments are growing and further compressing Executive spending,” he said in an interview with Newspaper published this Wednesday (31).

To resolve the issue, Renan Filho suggested legislation that would determine a fixed proportion between the discretionary expenses indicated by Congress and those allocated by the Executive. In the proposal, which there is still no sign of being forwarded, Congress would indicate 30% and the Executive the remainder (70%). This, he says, would avoid the annual dispute over the size of amendments.

The minister argued that the current uncontrolled expansion of parliamentary amendments harms the country’s budget predictability, highlighting that, four years ago, the amount was approximately R$15 billion, contrasting with the current R$50 billion.

“It is becoming an autophagic dispute in which there will be no winners”, he pointed out.

Regarding President Lula’s veto of R$5.6 billion in commission amendments, Renan Filho highlighted that the president expressed his intention to dialogue with Congress. Asked whether this impasse would affect the goal of bringing the public account deficit to zero in 2024, the minister stated that there was no change.

Renan Filho emphasized the importance of pursuing the fiscal target, even if the deficit does not reach zero, as long as it is decreasing in relation to 2023, considering this as an important signal for the financial market’s confidence in the management of the country’s accounts.

“The government’s investment area has differences. My personal position is that, for Brazil, the best thing is to invest as much as possible within the fiscal support environment proposed by the minister [Fernando] Haddad [da Fazenda]. I don’t believe that investing more than the country can invest with fiscal sustainability will solve the economy’s problem,” she added.