President suggests that Planning assess the situation of special funds

Lula government

Resources guarantee investments in specific areas, says Lula

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, suggested to the Minister of Planning and Budget, Simone Tebet, that she analyze the situation of special funds created to finance, with federal money, public policies aimed at developing or consolidating certain activities or economic segments.

“I take the opportunity to ask Simone: we need to do a survey of all existing funds in Brazil”

declared Lula during the ceremony for the reinstallation of the National Science and Technology Council, an event that took place this Wednesday (12), at the Planalto Palace, in Brasília.

When suggesting that a “raise all funds [nacionais] existing in Brazil, Lula criticized the so-called contingency of resources deposited in the accounts of these mechanisms. Contingent amounts cannot be executed, that is, they cannot be spent to fund the initially planned actions, accumulating and thus forming part of the surplus that successive governments used to comply with fiscal rules.

“Since 2003, when I was elected [presidente pela primeira vez]every time we talk about using a fund, whatever it was, it was kept to make a primary surplus”

added Lula, pointing out the need for the Executive and Legislative powers to review the issue, under the risk of special funds losing their raison d’être.

“The funds were not created to create a primary surplus, but to [garantir] investments in specific areas, as determined by the National Congress. This is something we’re going to have to start reviewing. If not, the National Congress no longer needs to create funds. It is better to create a primary surplus soon.”

he declared.

Also in 2019, the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) published a text to stimulate debate on the subject. In the article, available on the institute’s website, the researchers pointed out that, at the time, it was estimated that there were more than a hundred funds at the federal level, with different functions and names. Among them are the so-called special funds, “dispersed throughout the direct administration” It is “conceived to streamline management and guarantee public resources for specific areas/sectors, under the allegation of being strategic to national interests”.

White line

Also during this morning’s ceremony, the president addressed the minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, vice president Geraldo Alckmin, to, in a joking tone, suggest the edition of new rules that lower the prices of domestic appliances in the so-called White line.

“I already told Alckmin: “how about we make a little opening for the white line again? Facilitate the purchase of a refrigerator, television, washing machine… People, from time to time, need to change their household items. And if it’s expensive, let’s make it cheaper”

said Lula before commenting on the initial result of the federal program that granted subsidies to the automobile industry in exchange for discounts that lowered the price of some new car models.

“We did a small thing, we reduced the price of the cars a little bit and what happened? We sold more cars than the industry had the capacity to produce in the period”

said Lula.

According to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, in just one month, the program enabled 125,000 new kilometer vehicles to be sold with discounts. On the other hand, the federal government made R$ 800 million available to automakers in tax credits. Of these, R$ 650 million have already been released. The remaining R$ 150 million will be used to offset the loss of tax collection caused by discounts on the final price, as determined by the Provisional Measure that instituted the program.

*With information from Agência Brasil

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