MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Plan to fight indebtedness launched in Brazil

Brazil intends to strengthen ties with the United Nations and with the Netherlands, Haddad explained

The Desenrola plan, a scheme devised by the Government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to help people pay their debts, will be accompanied by a financial education program, said Finance Minister Fernando Haddad Tuesday upon elaborating alongside Queen Maxima of The Netherlands on the project launched the day before, Agencia Brasil reported.

A program that intends to benefit about 30 million people with debt renegotiation, Desenrola will include a financial education segment, announced Haddad. The action aims to prevent the risk of consumers falling back into new debts after clearing their names.

“We launched yesterday a program for people who are in debt and this will be accompanied by a financial education program, which is part of financial health. It is an important element of financial health,” Haddad said.

The minister made the statement next to the Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima Zorreguieta. She visited the Finance Ministry as a special advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, on Financial Inclusion for Development (UNSGSA).

Financial health and the protection of consumer rights of financial products “are issues that she has been dealing with directly, including in the G-20 around the finance ministers. She put herself and the United Nations office at Brazil's disposal so that this exchange can be done.”

The minister also said that Brazil intends to strengthen ties with the United Nations and with the Netherlands itself. The visit to the Finance Ministry comes one day after the Queen visited the Central Bank and met with the institution's president, Roberto Campos Neto.

Queen consort of the Netherlands, Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti is Argentinean, born in Buenos Aires. Married to King William Alexander, she ascended the throne in 2013, when then Queen Beatrix abdicated. Before Brasilia, the Queen visited São Paulo, where she attended meetings with executives from financial institutions and visited small businesses, some run by women.

(Source: Agencia Brasil)