Pacheco promises Haddad “extra sessions” to unlock the economic agenda

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, met this Thursday (7) with the president of the National Congress, Rodrigo Pacheco, to press for the progress of projects of interest to the government’s economic team this year. Haddad wants to guarantee breathing space in the Executive’s budget for next year, and Pacheco promised to help by calling extraordinary sessions if necessary.

In the conversation with the president of Congress, Lula’s minister demanded the approval of the sports betting regulation bill (PL 3.626/2023) and other proposals that increase government revenue before the annual budget bill (PLOA 2024 – PLN 29/2023). The 2024 Budget needs to be approved by Congress by December 22nd. According to government estimates, the Union could raise an additional R$3 billion with the approval of the project that taxes sports betting.

“I discussed these topics, and President Pacheco told me in clear words: ‘even if I have to call extraordinary sessions of the Senate, we will not fail to evaluate the proposals that the government forwarded'”, said Haddad upon leaving the meeting.

The minister avoided pointing out which of the proposals is a priority, only responding that “everything is a priority and necessary to close next year’s Budget”. He mentioned that the government’s proposals have already been processed in Congress for more than three months and expressed confidence in the support of parliamentarians to guarantee the balance of public accounts.

“The deadline (to vote) is the deadline. We have until the recess to vote on everything. And the last law to be approved is the Budget, why? Because you need to know how much revenue will be collected from these sectors that do not pay taxes”, declared the minister.

On the other hand, at the end of the meeting Pacheco confirmed that it will be two “very intense” weeks in Congress, due to the proximity of the legislative recess on December 22nd. He also decided to call for a concerted effort for next week and spoke of “pushing through the night” in the sessions if necessary.

“As much alignment as we can establish with the Ministry of Finance and the federal government within Brazil’s good purpose, we will do so. And everything is well underway until the end of the year”, declared Pacheco.