Finance Minister: Spending cap will preserve funds for health care, education

In an announcement broadcast on national television and radio Thursday evening (Oct. 6), Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles advocated the creation of a spending cap as key to economic recovery, assuring that the proposal would keep funds earmarked for health care and education preserved.

According to Meirelles, curbing government spending will allow the country to bring back its credibility. “The confidence of consumers, investors, and businesspeople is already on its way back. We can see the first signs of this change. We trust that Congress will approve this measure, which should balance out public accounts. This is the way to the recovery of our economy and the generation of employment our people are so much in need of.”

Meirelles noted that the recession assails the poorest portions of the population and that recovery can only be achieved after public accounts are balanced. “We can no longer tolerate inflation and unemployment, because it's the poorer sections of the population who have to cope. The approval of the bill to balance out public accounts should help us overcome this moment and put Brazil back on the path to social justice and real development.”

The finance minister ascribed the record-breaking primary deficit in public accounts to the previous administration, which rose spending without taking tax collection into consideration.

“Our deficit is likely reach $52 billion this year. In other words, this is how big the losses we had to face were,” the minister said.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira