'Linking employment with education and credit changes the history of the country,' Haddad emphasizes.

247 -  During the launch event for the Worker Credit program, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad (PT) stated that employment, education and credit are three fundamental pillars for the country's development. The initiative launched by the Lula (PT) government this Wednesday (12) allows workers to access loans with lower interest rates.

Regarding education, Haddad said that it is essential to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to study in order to guarantee the country's development. There are three structural things for the economy to function, for a people to develop. The first is access to education. If there is no access to education, forget about development. We will not be able to develop. I had the honor of following your work in education during your two terms, in which projects of the utmost importance were implemented: the expansion of federal public universities, the creation of federal institutes of science and technology, the Pro-Infância program, which universalized preschool, the Prouni program, which has already graduated almost 4 million Brazilians, the Fundeb, the Ideb, the Caminho da Escola program – you implemented a huge range of projects that changed the lives of Brazilians,” he stated to President Lula.

“I’m talking about this because I read a news story this week that moved me: the number of Black people in Brazil with university degrees has multiplied fivefold in 20 years. If you don’t look after people from preschool to postgraduate studies, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to study, you won’t have development,” he added.

Next, the minister spoke about the importance of guaranteeing a fair tax system and listed the federal government's initiatives to correct the problem. “The second pillar, which you tried to achieve twice and only succeeded on the third attempt, is to deliver a dignified tax system to the country. To this day, we have one of the ten worst tax systems in the world. And with the new tax system that comes into effect in 2027, thanks to the decision and efforts of the National Congress, we will be among the best tax systems in the world,” he promised.

Haddad also defended the income tax reform, which will exempt those earning up to R$ 5. “You made the decision to exempt 100% of the basic food basket from taxes, including state taxes. 100%, including meat, animal protein, milk, eggs, and you are appealing for this decision, which has already been made by the federal government, to be anticipated by the governors today, to combat the high cost of living currently seen in the market. Furthermore, you will also submit this year a reform that is simpler than the consumption tax reform, which is the income tax reform. Many wealthy Brazilians do not pay income tax, while all employees in this country have their tax deducted from their paychecks; they cannot decide whether or not to pay income tax. [They] have the tax amount deducted from their paychecks,” he said.

Haddad highlighted the importance of expanding access to credit to democratize opportunities. “And the third structural thing is precisely credit. Without credit, you don't democratize opportunities. People who are born without wealth—and we're talking about millions of Brazilians—aren't born owning stocks, real estate, sometimes not even a car. People are born with what little they have and have to make do. Employment is very good, but if you associate employment with quality education and credit, you will change the history of the country,” he pointed out.

The minister cited initiatives adopted during Lula's third term to expand access to credit, and stated that the Worker's Credit program could be "the most revolutionary" program in this area. "We have already passed many laws in these two years to improve the credit environment, and credit increased by 10% last year. But we still have much to do. Not to expand access, but to expand access to cheap credit. We have already implemented the 'Desenrola' program, the 'Marco de Garantias' (Guarantee Framework), several programs to lower credit costs with more guarantees, to reduce the bank spread. And I would say that this program being launched today is perhaps the most revolutionary in the medium term of all those I have mentioned."

Finally, Haddad explained aspects of how the program works and said that it will still be worked on. “There are 47 million people who are currently paying more than 5% interest per month on personal loans, sometimes in an emergency, to replace a broken stove or refrigerator, paying 5% per month. With this guarantee that will be offered, these rates could fall by 50% or more. We strongly urge the press and workers to exercise great caution with this program, because it is a program that will be developed over the coming weeks and months, as it is a very sophisticated program,” he explained.

“People can change jobs, companies can go bankrupt, companies can enter judicial reorganization. It's not a situation equivalent to that of a public servant or a retiree on INSS (Brazilian Social Security Institute) benefits, where you have a guarantee of payment. Not here. The guarantee is somewhat lower. But banks will know how to assess job stability, sector stability, and company stability. So a learning curve begins now. They will learn to deal with something new. But when we tame this new beast that is being born, I am sure that we will look back in a very short time and say, 'what a special day the credit day for workers was; what an important day this was when active workers could have the same rights as public servants and retirees,'” he concluded.