Temer: Previous government was isolated by “deficit of truth”

In one of his longest speeches since taking office as Brazil's president, Michel Temer said today (Nov. 21) that the country's difficulties go beyond the fiscal deficit—according to him, a “deficit of truth” led to the isolation of his predecessor.

If the country had continued at that pace, the president said at the opening of the meetings of the new board of the Council for Economic and Social Development (CDES), it would be “closed for stocktaking by 2024”.

According to Temer, the Council has an important job to do at this and future meetings in helping change this situation. “I should say that this massive crisis we have inherited has partly resulted from attempts to cover up reality,” he said.

The CDES was set up in 2003 for the purpose of advising the president and other government bodies in drafting public policy, coordinating the government's relations with the sectors of civil society it represents. The current board consists 67% of new members. The topic of their first meeting is reviving economic growth.

Temer told the Council members that the government is working to fight off recession so it can help the country grow as the next step, and create employment as the third stage. “The only way to make Brazil grow is by replacing illusionism with lucidity,” he said.

“Our crisis is fiscal in nature. The government has spent more than it could for too long, now we're waking up to reality and it is charging its price. The deficit amounted to R$170 billion [$50.12 billion], and [the] Social Security [deficit] could reach R$140 billion [$41.28 billion]. These are alarming deficits that have eroded investor and consumer confidence. The price of this neglect of public finance will not be paid by the big-spending government. It will be paid by workers who feel the effects of this recklessness on their jobs and their pockets,” he said.

Choice

Temer once again said he took over a country “immersed in one of its worst crises ever,” and that it is crucial to “end the isolation of power, build bridges of understanding, and work toward consensus.” With this spirit, he added, the government has sought to re-establish a harmonious relationship between the branches of government.

“We are rolling out an agenda for productivity, and treating the private sector as our partner. And we're going to give the state its regulatory role back,” Temer said, adding that this role will have positive effects on the private sector. “Businesses will now have choice rather than ties,” he said, mentioning that some indexes have already begun to show that consumption is starting to rise again thanks to the confidence of both the business sector and workers.

Translated by Mayra Borges

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