Haddad says he will convey Pacheco's request to Lula regarding the submission of the bill to reinstate payroll taxes.
Haddad said he believed the decision on the format of the proposal would be made this week and stated he was confident in the approval of the proposals.
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Tuesday that he will convey to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the request made by Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) to send to Congress a bill on the reintroduction of payroll taxes, separate from the provisional measure issued at the end of last year that deals with the subject.
"The request made by President Pacheco, reiterated by the leaders, is to divide it in two, to separate (the four points addressed in the Provisional Measure) into at least two, which is the payroll part, through a Bill with constitutional urgency, which would make the environment clearer. We will sit down with the president (Lula)," Haddad said in an interview as he left the Ministry of Finance this Tuesday, after a meeting with Senate leaders.
The bill on payroll tax reinstatement, which has been the subject of contention between the government and lawmakers, addresses a topic previously discussed by Congress, which in mid-December overturned President Lula's veto of payroll tax exemptions for 17 sectors of the economy.
Haddad said he believed the decision on the format of the proposal would be made this week and stated he was confident in the approval of the proposals.
The minister also confirmed that, under this model, the Senate leaders' proposal is that the termination of the Emergency Program for the Recovery of the Events Sector (Perse) and the tax compensation continue to be processed as Provisional Measures.
Even amidst friction between the government and the two Houses, the minister reiterated that the Ministry is open to dialogue with Congress.
"I see no impediment to us moving forward with the economic agenda safely and responsibly," he said.
Earlier, Senate leaders who met with Haddad advocated for a solution to the impasse that does not involve a provisional measure.
"The bill, that would be the best way forward because it presupposes dialogue, debate, and votes. So, it became very clear... that trying to redo the decision of the National Congress... through a provisional measure would not be the best way forward," said the leader of União Brasil in the Senate, Efraim Filho (PB).
When questioned about the possibility of disagreements between the Executive and Legislative branches hindering the future processing of proposals on the subject, Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (independent-AP), the government's leader in Congress, denied that there is any kind of discord.
"I don't think there's a problem in the Chamber. The Chamber leaders have been talking to Minister (of Institutional Relations, Alexandre) Padilha all week," Randolfe stated. "Even during the recess, the president (of the Chamber) Arthur Lira himself has been talking to Minister Fernando Haddad. So, there's no problem in the Senate for obvious reasons... much less in the Chamber," he affirmed.