Bolsonaro's decree gives power to the Civil House to bar Guedes' budget decisions - ISTOÉ DINHEIRO

Headquarters of the Ministry of Economy in Brasilia

BRASILIA (Reuters) – President Jair Bolsonaro issued a decree that, in effect, subjects the decisions of the Ministry of Economy on budgetary reallocations and releases of resources to a prior authorization by the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic.

The text, published in the Official Gazette this Thursday, represents a change in the rule compared to previous years, when decisions were delegated to the Minister of Economy, without the need for approval from the Civil House.

At the opening of each year, the decree is edited to delegate to the head of the Economy the competence to open supplementary or extraordinary credits, in addition to reallocating funds within the Budget. This year, however, the document brings a new device.

“The practice of the acts mentioned in the caput is conditioned to the prior favorable expression of the Minister of State Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Republic”, says the excerpt.

Minister Ciro Nogueira, from the Civil House, is a member of the government’s Budget Execution Board, which also includes the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.

In a note, the Planalto Palace does not mention that Guedes’ decisions will depend on Nogueira’s prior authorization. The text states that the functions were delegated to the Minister of Economy and that “the reason is to speed up the implementation of these changes, while releasing the Presidency of the Republic to analyze projects of acts of greater repercussion”.

The Ministry of Economy was contacted and did not respond to questions immediately.

(By Bernardo Caram)