Government forecasts a deficit of R$ 139 billion in the accounts in 2017.
In a press conference held Thursday evening, the 7th, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles announced the interim government's proposal for the 2017 fiscal target. According to Meirelles, the primary surplus target has been reduced from R$ 170,5 billion in 2016 to R$ 139 billion next year in the central government's accounts, which, according to him, signifies a "huge effort" to contain expenses and increase revenue. However, the interim government has not yet announced whether there will be tax increases for the population.
Infomoney - The government will announce its proposal for the 2017 fiscal target on Thursday night (7). Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles says there has been a reduction in the primary result target for 2017 - settling at R$ 139 billion. According to him, this means a substantial reduction - the 2016 deficit was R$ 170 billion - and a huge effort to contain expenses and increase revenues.
Meirelles explained that all necessary calculations were made to ensure that expenses evolved taking into account the maximum limit based on the previous year's inflation. The minister also said that there is an effort that will focus on major items to increase revenue - sale of assets, grants, concessions, a huge number of asset companies that are being considered.
According to him, the fiscal target represents a very strong commitment and a very large reduction in expenses, despite the mandatory increase in the pension deficit. The projected primary result for state-owned companies is a deficit of R$ 3 billion for next year, while for the states it is R$ 1 billion.
The Minister of Planning, Dyogo de Oliveira, said that the 2017 result reflects the continuation of a downward trend in the federal government's managed revenues, as well as in social security revenues. He further stated that social security revenue should be 5,6% of GDP in 2017.
The minister stated that discretionary spending will contract by 0,5% of GDP in 2017 compared to 2016 – falling from 4,4% to 3,9%. Meanwhile, the social security deficit is expected to reach 2,7% of GDP in 2017, closing between R$190 billion and R$200 billion.
The Minister of Planning said that the forecast is for R$ 1,127 trillion in revenue in the baseline scenario. Added to this amount will be a fiscal effort of R$ 55,4 billion, which will be detailed in the budget law.
In his initial response to journalists' questions, Meirelles said that even with the additional revenue-generating effort of R$ 55 billion, the deficit remains high, at R$ 139 billion. "But this figure already represents a substantial decrease from what the result would be following the trends of recent years for revenue and expenditure," he explained.
The Finance Minister stated that the deficit presented was not the first figure obtained by the economic team, and that the certainty achieved was reached by evaluating several factors, such as the estimated value of assets in the market, various types of actions already taken, market tests on asset prices, among others.
When questioned about tax increases, Meirelles stated that these hikes are not ruled out and that this will be decided by the end of August, when the issue of the impeachment of suspended President Dilma Rousseff will already be resolved.