Tebet criticizes Bolsonaro’s management of accounts and says expenses are being reviewed

Minister Simone Tebet, of Planning and Budget, criticized the management of the accounts of the government of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) by announcing that the current management under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is carrying out a review of all expenses that aims to reach savings of R$50.6 billion by 2026.

Even after just over a year under new management, the government is still analyzing waste and signs of fraud and errors in accounts and social programs ranging from court orders, Bolsa Família, INSS, Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC), insurance- defense, among others.

Simone Tebet stated that she had a “disruptive” and “dysfunctional” government in dealing with public accounts, and that the transition between Bolsonaro and Lula was not like the post-Fernando Henrique Cardoso succession.

“In 2023, we began to implement a planning culture. We did not succeed just any government. Lula is not succeeding Fernando Henrique. We are succeeding a disruptive government, we know about the coup attempt, and dysfunctional, a misgovernment in which everything was possible”, said Tebet in an interview with Newspaper published late Sunday night (25).

The minister stated that an “ex-ante evaluation” is beginning[prévia]” which will take ten years, and which is being charged by the ministries that are part of the Budget Execution Board, formed by the Treasury, Civil House and Management.

The review of all government spending, says the minister, is part of the effort to eliminate the gap in public accounts on the management side, which preferred to avoid cutting its own flesh by proposing a zero deficit in this year’s Budget. On the other hand, she passed measures in Congress to increase revenue, such as the taxation of exclusive funds and offshoresbetween others.

Simone Tebet stated that, despite foreseeing a review of all government spending – “everything is on the table” –, she avoided detailing what still lies ahead beyond what has already been announced. “There are things to be announced, although we prefer to do it in silence rather than speak out,” she said.

Of what we have so far, according to the minister, there are R$9 billion in Bolsa Família, with the exclusion of 1.7 million single-person families that would have been created to receive the benefit. Of this amount, R$7 billion was a target imposed by the minister and another R$2 billion was achieved by Minister Wellington Dias, of Social Development.

“Unless I am mistaken, he told me that he ended the year with almost R$11 billion in savings. What was obtained in addition to R$7 billion went back to the MDS, to carry out social policy, to reduce the Bolsa Família queue, which it did. You need to have goals and a carrot [um incentivo]: that the remainder beyond the target remains with the ministry”, he mentioned.

The Minister of Planning and Budget explained that, in the INSS, there is a goal of saving R$ 12.5 billion per year by reviewing benefits such as defense insurance, accident benefit, sickness benefit, permanent disability benefit and Continuous Payment Benefits (BPC).

Defense insurance is a more delicate point for the government, which, says the minister, is paying for 940 thousand people, while the Pnad (National Household Sample Survey) indicates between 240 thousand and 250 thousand fishermen. She also intends to change Proagro, a type of rural insurance for calamities aimed at family farming and which had R$5 billion allocated last year.

“Proagro went from R$1.7 billion in 2021 to R$5.2 billion in 2022 and to R$9.4 billion in 2023. We had a little more of a climate problem, but it doesn’t justify going from R$5 billion to R$9.4 billion”, he pointed out.

Another point is the issue of court orders, which the government advanced the payment of R$30 billion this month, and which intends to reach R$87 billion by the end of the year. According to Simone Tebet, this anticipation resulted in savings of R$2 billion in interest and corrections.

On the other hand, the minister guaranteed that no social program will run out of money to fulfill what was promised by the government, and that the annual review of the minimum wage above inflation also remains guaranteed without cuts. “Nothing is prohibited. The only thing that is prohibited is the increase in the minimum wage above inflation. This one will always happen,” she added.