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BRASILIA – Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said Thursday that if there is a second wave of Covid-19 in Brazil, it is “certain” that emergency aid will be extended. He stressed, however, that the government does not work like this scenario as “plan A”.
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– What is the emergency relief plan? Gradual withdrawal, and we returned to Bolsa Família. This is plan A. Is there a possibility of an extension of emergency aid? If there is a second wave of pandemic, it is not a possibility, it is a certainty, we will have to react. But it is not plan A, it is not what we are thinking now – said the minister, at an event in the supermarket sector.
As GLOBO demonstrated on Thursday, President Jair Bolsonaro does not work with the aid extension, which ends in December. In addition, he told the interlocutors of the political wing that he had given up on creating the Citizen Income this year. According to senior government officials, the idea now is to maintain Bolsa Família, which currently benefits 14.2 million families, and include more people in the rules.
– The idea is that emergency aid was created to deal with a calamity. The pandemic is going down and emergency aid is going down. This is our reality, this is our plan A – said the minister.
At the event, Guedes reinforced that, if there is a second wave of the pandemic in Brazil -as it is happening in Europe and it begins to reach the United States-, the government will act in the same way as in the first wave. However, he stressed that he plans to spend less. So far, the government has released R $ 580 billion in measures to combat the pandemic.
– If there is a second wave, hit the Brazilians again, we will react the same way we reacted in the first wave. We will have to create the state of public calamity. (But) this year we spend 10% of GDP, maybe we will spend 4% (next year) – he said, adding: – The probability today is low, not so high, but we have to be prepared.
Debt to almost 100% of GDP
The minister also said that it is not possible to spend much due to the rebound in public debt, which is already close to 100% of GDP.
– It is very easy to please everyone, give money to everyone, mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren, which is what has been done with many governments.
The emergency aid began to be paid in the amount of R $ 600, for five months. Later, this amount was reduced to R $ 300, until December. The government’s initial proposal, on the other hand, was for a monthly fee of R $ 200. The amount rose with the discussions in the National Congress, a figure higher than that expected by Guedes.
– The first step of the government was to create an aid of R $ 200, to make it last longer. The service base was very large and the value began to rise. Basically the number came out a bit higher than we expected. I expected it to be R $ 200 to R $ 400, it was already double what there was. But the political decision was to push up. It may have been an exaggeration at the time, but I don’t regret it, ”he said.
At the same event, Guedes said that he saw inflation as transitory and once again defended the tax on electronic transactions.
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