Speaking to journalists this Monday (Oct 30), the minister avoided saying whether the commitment to zeroing the primary deficit is maintained
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddadleft this Monday (October 30, 2023) an interview with journalists without answering a question about the fiscal target in 2024. He was asked more than once about the topic.
When asked by a journalist whether the president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) would change the target of zero primary deficit next year, Haddad laughed. Below is what the minister responded:
“Dear, I already told you… This is the 4th time I have answered: for the Ministry of Finance, we are going to take measures for the government so that the objectives are achieved regardless of these setbacks that were discovered throughout the year and that have brought the erosion of the federal tax calculation base. But it needs to validate in politics the decisions that need to be made.”
The reporter also says that Haddad is “terriversating”. After the question about the fiscal target, the journalist tries to question him about BC (Central Bank), but the minister stands up before she can finish speaking. At this point, the audio of the interview is cut off.
Watch (1min27s):
POST-LULA INTERVIEW
The Finance Minister gave an interview after meeting with Lula at Palácio do Planalto. On Friday (Oct 27), the president said in a coffee with journalists that the government will be unlikely to achieve zero primary deficit next year.
During the interview, Haddad became irritated when asked several times about maintaining the fiscal target and avoided talking about the topic.
The head of the Treasury told a reporter to do her job after being asked about a company that has a strategy to pay less taxes. “The name of the company is public. Just go to the Judiciary and you will see it there. Baby, do your job. It’s public. It is not confidential data from the Federal Revenue Service”he declared.
Haddad said that there is no lack of commitment from the government with public accounts and that the head of the Executive is concerned about “drains” taxes that reduce federal revenue. He also declared that he has a personal goal and that he will seek fiscal balance, without answering whether the objective of zero deficit will be maintained.
Despite the negative repercussion of Lula’s speeches on Friday (Oct 27), the minister minimized the Chief Executive’s statements by saying that the president was dealing with tax benefits.
Lula would have been alerted by the economic team about measures adopted by Congress and the STF (Supreme Federal Court) that reduced revenue from companies’ IRPJ (Corporate Income Tax) and CSLL (Social Contribution on Net Profit) in recent years. years.
One of the measures was the Complementary Law 160 of 2017, which grants tax benefits on ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services), which is the responsibility of the States. The reduction in federal tax payments due to incentives causes revenue to fall.
The government sent the MP 1,185 for “correct distortions”, according to Haddad. “Everything going well, 2023 will be the last year of this huge loophole that allows companies to deduct tax incentives from this calculation basis”, declared the minister.
Watch the full interview (37min50s):
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