The government’s balance sheet will be released on Friday and renegotiation with RJ and MG on the 26th

Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, announced this Wednesday (20) that the government will present next week a proposal for the renegotiation of the debts of the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais with the Union, which are in payment of installments suspended by court order.

The information was given to journalists after two meetings he attended in the morning with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), one with economic ministers and the other with Rio de Janeiro governor Cláudio Castro (PL-RJ).

Haddad stated that the Union’s proposal to review the agreement with the states has already had Lula’s approval, but he did not want to say what the terms of the renegotiation should be. In addition to Castro, governors Romeu Zema (Novo-MG) and Eduardo Leite (PSDB-RS) have also gone to president. The three approached the government to find a viable solution for paying the amounts.

In the middle of the afternoon, the Social Communication Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (Secom) announced that Cláudio Castro mentioned to Lula that Rio’s debt with the Union already reaches R$ 188 billion, and that he would file a lawsuit in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to re-discuss the terms of the charge.

Lula, however, would have asked him to wait until the 26th, when Haddad must meet with the governors. “We have to wait until the 26th for us to try another round of negotiations and put forward what Rio de Janeiro understands as fair. Then, talk again. The action would be a positive thing, not in the idea of ​​a fight, but in the idea of ​​conciliation. Perhaps in a field like the Supreme Court we could, through a judicial agreement, reach consensuses that, sometimes, in the administrative sphere are not possible”, he stated, also citing the claims of Minas, Goiás and Rio Grande do Sul.

Visual cuts

The previous meeting, which was attended by ministers Simone Tebet (Planning) and Esther Dweck (Management and Innovation in Public Services), as well as Rui Costa (Casa Civil), dealt with the revenue and expenditure report for the first two months of the year that will be presented on Friday (22).

The minister preferred not to comment on the results that must be presented, as the economic team must reveal the status of public accounts to the president only on Thursday (21). Haddad continues with the expectation of closing the gap in public accounts this year without causing budget blockages.

However, President Lula himself signaled, at the ministerial meeting last Monday (18) that some ministries may have some contingencies.

“I know that now people are starting to say ‘because in my ministry they are cutting a little bit of money’, ‘my ministry they are cutting. Then people look at Simone Tebet thinking that she is the one cutting, or at Haddad thinking that you are the one cutting [apontando para
ele]. Many times it is the need that is cutting, but we will have to do a lot of work to replace it, because without money the ministries cannot function, and we need to guarantee that the ministries function”, said Lula at the beginning of the ministerial meeting.

Despite signaling a possible cut in funds, the government had tax collections in January of R$280.6 billion, a nominal growth of 11.48% according to the most recent data from the Ministry of Finance, released at the end of February. and the highest volume for a month of January since the beginning of the historical series in 2000.

The February data has not yet been released, which should occur by this Thursday (21st) for the economic team to present the balance of the first two months to Lula.