In Sweden, Rousseff says Finance Minister's “to stay”
Rousseff is in Sweden for official engagements aimed at increasing cooperation in trade and education between the two countries 
President Dilma Rousseff said Sunday (Oct. 18) while in Stockholm, Sweden, that Finance Minister Joaquim Levy is staying in office. “If he's staying, that's because we approve of his economic policy,” Rousseff said about rumors recently circulated in Brazilian press that the minister would step down.
Among the measures that will be part of the fiscal adjustment policy the Finance Ministry has been enforcing since the beginning of the year, the president said, are strategies to secure approval of the Provisional Tax on Financial Transactions (CPMF), and the Untying of Federal Revenue (DRU), a legal provision that lets the government free to spend a portion of the budget at its own discretion.
“The CPMF is crucial for the country. We're not raising taxes because we want to, but because we need to,” Rousseff said. Without the CPMF, according to her, the country will struggle to achieve fiscal rebalancing and revive growth. She conceded that the political crisis facing the country “is a factor in the economic crisis” and it's equally critical to solve both.
Talking to journalists in Sweden, the president also denied entering into any political agreement with the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, to protect him from a potential ouster, as a bargain to ensure he dismisses all impeachment petitions against her. Cunha is accused of maintaining unreported accounts in Switzerland that he allegedly used for receiving bribes.
Rousseff is in Sweden for official engagements aimed at increasing commercial and educational cooperation between the two countries. Last year, trade between Brazil and Sweden reached $2 billion. On Tuesday (Oct. 20), the president is heading to Finland, where she expects to close deals in education.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: In Sweden, Rousseff says Finance Minister's “to stay”
