MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Rousseff pledges to reduce budget deficit; denies Levy was stepping down
The budget was presented with a deficit with the idea of being “transparent” and showing that the economy “clearly has problems,” Rousseff affirmed 
Rousseff denied rumors Finance Minister Joaquim Levy was leaving and said he was not unhappy with the government despite differences over the budget. President Dilma Rousseff vowed on Wednesday to take new measures to reduce the deficit her administration is projecting for 2016, without ruling out more spending cuts and additional taxes in Brazil. The 2016 budget unveiled on Monday projected Brazil’s first-ever primary fiscal deficit, before payment of interest on the national debt, sparking controversy.
The administration presented a budget with a deficit with the idea of being “transparent” and showing that the economy “clearly has problems,” Rousseff told reporters at a ceremony welcoming participants in the WorldSkills professional training competition.
Rousseff denied rumors that Finance Minister Joaquim Levy was leaving the Cabinet and said he was not unhappy with the government despite differences over the budget.
The administration estimates that Brazil will post a budget deficit of 30.5 billion Reais (about $8.4bn), the equivalent of 0.50% of GDP in 2016.
Some opposition members have called on Congress to reject the budget and economists warned that credit rating agencies could downgrade Brazil’s debt because of the budget shortfall.
Rousseff refused to rule out any measures to balance the budget, which posted a deficit in 2014 and is running below the administration’s projections this year.
“No source of revenues” has been ruled out, the president said. The budget adjustment measures already taken by the government “already had an effect” on the economy, which is in recession, Rousseff said.
The government released a report last Friday showing that the GDP contracted 1.9% in the second quarter on top of a decline of 0.70% in the first quarter, meeting the technical definition of a recession. Economists define a recession as six consecutive months of negative GDP.
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Read all commentsLevy seems to be an honourable man and is clearly doing his best under the most difficult of circumstances, not least of which is trying to stop DumbAss Dilma from fucking Mr Market again.
Sep 03rd, 2015 - 11:16 am 0This woman will never learn that Mr. Market could be her saviour if only she did all the things Levy has suggested.
The problem there of course is that payments to the idle bastards would have to stop and that would erode her voter base to extinction.
1 ChrisR
Sep 03rd, 2015 - 12:55 pm 0It's not quite a simple as you portray the issue. Levy and Rousseff are caught between what should be done, and what the Senate and Congress will permit to be done.
Brazil Congress Defies Rousseff by Boosting Pension Payments ...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/brazil-senate-boosts-pensions-and-sets-up-showdown-with-rousseff
Brazil's Rousseff suffers fiscal setbacks in Congress | Reuters
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/brazil-senate-boosts-pensions-and-sets-up-showdown-with-rousseff
And therein lies the problem of Brazil, too many festering vested interests to pander to so they never get anywhere. Needs solid reform, and the pain will be very hard for a time, but a country like Brazil might finally be the country of the future. Needs a party to win power and then make the changes, they'll never get back in power again though. I can only dream.....idiot socialist won't do jackshit, they like the baubles of office.
Sep 03rd, 2015 - 01:36 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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