BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha said on Thursday there will be no initiative from the government to change its fiscal target, which currently foresees erasing the country’s fiscal deficit by next year.
His remarks come amid recent chatter that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration was considering tweaking the goal to make room for a small deficit and preserve public investments.
“We made it clear that there has not been and will not be any government initiative to change the fiscal target that has been set by the budget bill,” Padilha told reporters after meeting with congressional leaders in Brasilia.
The minister said the government was focused on getting Congress to pass multiple measures it has proposed in order to increase revenue, which are seen as essential for Lula to meet its zero fiscal deficit pledge.
Earlier in the day, Congressman Danilo Forte – the sponsor of the country’s 2024 budget bill in the lower house – had already said the Lula administration had agreed not to tweak the fiscal goal.
“Any possibility of an amendment to the bill has been removed, which is important as it provides us some balance,” Forte told reporters.
(Reporting by Ricardo Brito and Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
