FM says only fiscal stability will set Brazil growing again
Levy speaking at the opening of a seminar on the 20th anniversary of the Law on Concession Contracting at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) headquarters in Rio de Janeiro,
Finance Minister Joaquim Levy spoke out Monday (Oct. 5) for the government's need to focus on fiscal stability and legal certainty in order to ensure strong, fast, and sustained growth as early as of next year.
Speaking at the opening of a seminar on the 20th anniversary of the Law on Concession Contracting at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Levy stressed that that is the focus of President Dilma Rousseff's government.
“Our experience from the beginning of [former president] Lula's government has shown that when the fiscal area is on track, growth follows fast,” he said.
The minister further stated that looking at fiscal issues from the cost side, especially on a long-term perspective, is crucial in discussing the budget for 2016. For him, all required steps must be taken to draft a “budget that restores confidence and puts our country on a path of growth right away.”
Levy again said the Provisional Contribution on Financial Transactions (CPMF), a tax that the Congress is considering restoring, “will play a very important role in achieving fiscal balance, as it did during the administration of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, when the president had to bring Brazil back to a route of fiscal balance. He had to rely on the CPMF back then,” he said about the former president.
According to him, the tax should to be temporary “as a measure that will ensure we get safely to the point we're aiming for. This is the kind of safety that leads to a country drawing more investment, working better, and having better infrastructure.”
The minister explained the government's proposals are a 3-step kind of solution. “We're sorting out the budget, with the economy growing fast, interest falling—because economic risks will be lower—and addressing the medium term to avoid a floppy 'chicken flight'. What we want is a fast, lasting growth, now,” he concluded.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: FM says only fiscal stability will set Brazil growing again
