Pacheco and Haddad will decide on the MP for the reinstatement next week

The executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan, stated this Wednesday morning (10) that it will be up to minister Fernando Haddad and the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), to decide whether or not to forward the provisional measure that gradually re-encumbers the payroll of the productive sector of the economy.

He participated in a meeting outside the official agenda with Pacheco and the government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA) to try to convince the president of the house not to return the MP. Pacheco has been pressured by parliamentarians not to forward the measure, which would nullify the effects of overturning the presidential veto on the extension of the payroll tax exemption.

Durigan stated that the meeting took place to try to reach an agreement on the re-encumbrance of the sectors intended by Haddad in order to try to maintain the goal of eliminating the deficit in public accounts this year. Pacheco had already announced on Tuesday (9) the need to deepen discussions on some of the points that the minister intends to modify.

The secretary stated that “the decision will be up to the president of the Senate” and that the government has presented technical data that prove the need to maintain the provisional measure sent by the minister to “close the budget with a balance between revenues and expenses, which must be persecuted this year.”

Dario Durigan stated that Pacheco has committed to talking to Haddad next week – probably on Monday (15) – when the minister returns from vacation, and that the issue will be resolved before the end of the parliamentary recess, at the beginning of February.

“The limit of this entire discussion is fiscal balance, it is not possible for us to have made the effort we made last year and now not continue in the same direction. It’s about looking at your expenses and making compensations, as Minister Haddad has always done. It is necessary to honor Congress, but look at the balance of the accounts”, highlighted the secretary.

Durigan also said that the technical argument he has used to reinforce the need for the provisional measure is the numbers, the impact that the payroll tax exemption has on the budget. “We would really like to have this impact considered in this decision-making”, he added.

Pacheco has not yet commented on this morning’s meeting.

On Tuesday (9), the president of the Senate stated that parliamentarians understand the need to seek sources of revenue to achieve the goal of eliminating the deficit in public accounts this year, so much so that they approved the Budget with a zero deficit for 2024. However, he said that it is necessary to “build a sustainable collection solution” for this.

He also emphasized that the exemption issue is not unconstitutional, that it had been approved since 2011 and that, despite generating a reduction in revenue, it brings benefits at the other end of the generation of jobs and income. Pacheco also pointed out that the project was approved and had the presidential veto overturned by Congress by a large majority.