Fiscal solidity and overcoming bureaucracy are Brazil’s commitments

During the opening ceremony of the 7th EU-Brazil Business Meeting, in Brussels, president Dilma Rousseff said on Monday (Feb. 24) that her administration is committed to fiscal solidity and to overcoming bureaucracy, which has slowed down the pace of the country’s economic growth.

“Ever since the beginning of this government, we’ve been committed to making progress in a new investment cycle. Essentially, for us, this means investments in infrastructure, education and innovation. And, in Brazil’s case in particular, it means making a major effort in overcoming bureaucracy,” Rousseff said to Europeans entrepreneurs.

She further stated that the government has established important partnerships with the private sector, and mentioned the role of European companies in the program of concessions, whose purpose, according to her, is “to overcome part of the bottleneck in our economy in terms of competition, which is the topic of infrastructure investment.”

Dilma also mentioned the room for investments in transportation in several Brazilian cities, with the construction and expansion of the metro and the light rail. “There’s an enormous demand for goods and services in these fields.”

According to the president, after infrastructure investments were resumed in the country, it also became clear that workers needed training and that there is often a shortage of qualified workforce. Rousseff declared that not only will massive investments in education be possible with resources from the oil royalties, but also efforts to democratize the access to information, like the popularization of broadband internet connection in the country.

As regards Brazil’s economy, Rousseff said that her government has pursued the reduction of inequality without leaving fiscal responsibilities aside. She said that the country has reserves of over $370 billion and that Brazil has reduced its public debt from 42% to 34%, and its gross debt from 60.9% to 58.5% of the GDP, besides having set as the target a fiscal surplus of 1.9% of the GDP in 2014.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira