Former reality TV star points to digital inclusion as a challenge.

247 - Former executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, economist Nelson Barbosa believes that, contrary to what the opposition says, the economy is not a major challenge for 2015 in the event of President Dilma Rousseff's reelection or the election of a new head of the Executive branch. According to him, there needs to be "a major structural debate about where public budget finances are headed."

In an interview with the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo, Nelson Barbosa spoke about the need to improve industrial policy, modernize regulations, foster the capital market, and promote the recovery of exports.

According to the former Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, the country's low growth is circumstantial and unrelated to the government's decision to focus on a consumption-based development model rather than investment. "Investment grew the most. The government didn't focus on consumption. It focused on ending inequality."

Asked about the need to address the demands expressed in the street protests last June, the economist said that, yes, the government should pay more attention to popular demands and assessed that a major step the government could take would be to promote digital inclusion.

"Yes. Achieving social inclusion through sanitation, housing, urban transportation, and digital inclusion—which I think is extremely important. Lula likes to say that the 'Light for All' program brought a large portion of the population from the 19th century to the 20th. To bring that same portion into the 21st century, digital inclusion is necessary. Many gains can be achieved simply by adopting things here that are already common abroad. Just as cell phones promoted a leap in productivity when they became widespread, the adoption of faster broadband can promote a leap in productivity in companies and families."