The re-elected president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawould make a decision on possible tax measures after he returns later this month from a trip abroad, the finance minister said on Thursday. Dario Durigan.
“We will continue to debate and present proposalsbut when the president returns from his trip, we should have more information,” he said Duriganreferring to the visits of Lula to Türkiye and the Philippines, where he plans to stay until November 15.
Durigan said he would later participate in a meeting called by Lula on Thursday morning to discuss the economic agenda and present “scenarios and proposals” to the president.
Markets remain awaiting clearer signs of fiscal discipline from Lula, as the rapid increase in mandatory spending stokes fiscal concerns and pushes investors to demand higher risk premiums to buy public debt.
Pressured by this dynamic, the debt Brazil’s gross domestic product has increased by more than 10 percentage points during Lula’s current term, reaching 82.9% of GDP.
Durigan He also stated that the current level of interest rates is harming the economy and that the Government must take the necessary measures to create the conditions that allow financing costs to fall in a “sustainable and structural” way.
“Interest rates are very high and very detrimental to the economy and for all sectors,” he stated.
Brazil’s Central Bank suspended its monetary easing cycle on Wednesday, keeping the Selic reference rate unchanged at 13.75%, one of the highest among major emerging economies.
