The Minister stated that it is necessary to get out of the level of “chronic deficit” in public accounts, but this cannot be done “on the shoulders of the poor.” He praised Motta’s and Alcolombre’s performances
Brasilia – Minister of Finance, Fernando HaddadHe said on Wednesday, the 26th of this month, that Al-Alawi was invited to settle the accounts by paying Taxes. He spoke at the passing ceremony of the bill that expands the scope of the exemption Income tax (IR)held at Palacio do Planalto.
Haddad said: “This project is financially neutral, but all we did to adjust the accounts, which angers some people, is that it was the upper floor that was called to make the adjustment, not the lower floor.”
“Over the years, we have seen an increase in tax spending and taxes on the poor,” he said. “It was ‘trade grants’ for the rich and income freezes for the poor. We decided to put an end to this.”
The minister also said that it is necessary to get out of the level of “chronic deficit” in public accounts, but that this cannot be done “at the expense of the poor.” He pointed to economic indicators, such as the improvement in the Gini index, which measures income inequality in a country.
The minister went on to say that 1% of the population owns more than half of Brazil’s wealth, and criticized the fact that the country suffers from worse inequality than 47 African countries. He added: “We must have a minimum level of dignity when treating our people.”
Congressional support
Haddad registered support for the National Congress and praised the Presidents of the Council, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), and the President of the Senate, Davi Acolombre (Uniao-AP), both of whom were absent from the event. “Without their diligence, it will be impossible to celebrate this year and implement zero income tax from January next year,” he stressed.
He said that until the day before the vote, he had not expected unanimity in the Islamic Republic’s vote, which was approved without any dissenting votes. Looking to the future, the Finance Minister said Brazil “really needs” Mota and Alcolombre to complete this year successfully.
Finally, the minister said he was “disturbed” that the Treasury’s economic reforms secretary, Marcos Pinto, had already said he would want to leave the ministry, following the path of the former extraordinary secretary for tax reform, Bernard Abe, whose secretariat was abolished at the beginning of this month.