In an alarmist tone, Guedes says that business owners fear that shelves could be empty in 30 days.
"Everything is still organized. But they (businessmen) are saying the following: there is a danger of things starting to get disorganized," said the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes.
Reuters - Business leaders warned the government on Thursday that, if measures to contain the coronavirus are maintained, food and products could start to run out on store shelves within 30 days, said Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who stated that this scenario could lead to both an economic collapse and a situation of social disorganization.
In a press conference at the entrance of the Supreme Federal Court (STF), where he participated alongside President Jair Bolsonaro and a delegation of businessmen in a last-minute hearing with the court's president, Dias Toffoli, broadcast live on Bolsonaro's social media, Guedes said that the vital signs of the economy are still pulsing, amid restrictions adopted to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but that this may not be sustainable.
"Everything is still organized. But they (businessmen) are saying the following: there is a danger of things starting to get disorganized," Guedes told reporters alongside the president and businessmen.
According to data from the Ministry of Health, Brazil has more than 125 confirmed cases of Covid-19, a respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, which has already killed more than 8.500 people in the country. The number of daily deaths hit record highs on both Tuesday and Wednesday, showing that the pandemic curve in Brazil is rising.
Guedes said that social protection measures, such as emergency aid of 600 reais, will only last a few months.
"Although we are protected, the population and everyone has the resources, what good is it if in 30 days the lights go out, the food is cut off, and national production is halted?" he asked.
"So, the warning they (business owners) gave is very important, which is this: look, although there is still protection, and people still have money in hand, in 30 days there may be shortages on the shelves, there may be shortages and disruption to Brazilian production. And then you enter a system not only of economic collapse, but of social disorganization," he stated.
On more than one occasion, however, the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, has said that the food supply is guaranteed.
Bolsonaro has consistently criticized the social isolation measures adopted by governors and mayors to curb the spread of the virus, such as the closure of businesses deemed non-essential, and on Thursday he again defended a reopening of the economy.
Social isolation is advocated by the Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, by health authorities from local governments, and by the World Health Organization as a fundamental tool to reduce the transmissibility of the virus and give health systems time to prepare to meet the demand of those infected by Covid-19, especially for intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
By Eduardo Simões, in São Paulo