Tebet criticizes current Selic level, basic interest rate – 07/14/2023 – Market

Desenrola Brasil, the federal government’s program to reduce debt, cannot be carried out every year, said this Friday (14) Minister Simone Tebet, of Planning, in criticism of the current level of interest rates, at 13.75%.

“It’s no use doing Desenrola and easing people’s lives, and the absolute majority of Brazilian families are indebted, presenting an efficient program, with interest rates of 13.75%”, said the minister, before the final PPA discussion session. (Pluriannual Plan).

The debt renegotiation program starts on Monday (17), with 1.5 million Brazilians with debts of up to R$ 100 leaving the negative list.

Tebet defended the program as a step prior to the possibility of the government creating some type of incentive for the white line, which includes appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines.

A few days ago, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended that his government should find a way to make the purchase of these products cheaper.

Simone Tebet stated that she has not yet been formally called to discuss the program. If so, you should assess what kind of impact the policy would have on the population and whether there is room in the budget to include some kind of incentive.

She pointed out, however, that she expects to be convened by ministers Fernando Haddad, of the Economy, and Geraldo Alckmin, vice-president and holder of the Development, Industry, Commerce and Services portfolio.

In the minister’s evaluation, if Lula decides to continue with the idea of ​​encouraging the white line, the initiative would depend, in addition to Desenrola, on the reduction of interest rates, which she points out as one of the main factors for the high indebtedness.

“Launch a program with debt [alto] means that it can be lame, because the people who need it most will not be able to change the refrigerator, the stove.”

Minister Marcio Macêdo, from the General Secretariat of the Presidency, who has been leading, alongside Tebet, the PPA plenary sessions, echoed the Lula government’s criticism of the current Selic level and suggested that the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto , be called upon to give explanations to the Senate.

“The president of the Central Bank is acting with the determination of a policy that was defeated at the polls in the last election. He cannot hide behind the autonomy of the central bank so as not to fulfill his constitutional role, which is to guarantee fiscal control and inflation controlled,” he said.

Luiz Marinho, from Trabalho e Emprego, also called the level of basic interest rates insane, and said that if it weren’t for the current Selic rate, the accumulated balance of formal jobs from January to May, today at 863 thousand, could have created 50 thousand jobs more.

Tax Reform is the ‘salvation of the crop’

The text of the Tax Reform approved in the Chamber of Deputies, despite the exceptions, still guarantees a “very good reform”, said Minister Simone Tebet, of Planning.

“The more exceptions, the higher the rate of the single tax that the Brazilian people will pay,” he said. For the Minister, the Tax Reform is the most important reform since the Federal Constitution.

He classified the text as the only “silver bullet” or “salvation of the crop” for Brazil to grow sustainably. “There is no industry that can handle Brazil’s tax burden. Brazil collects a lot and collects poorly.”

Tebet said he trusts the progress of the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) in the Senate, which could change one exception for another, and said that the government is aware of the changes.