Pro-Brazil plan has no substance whatsoever, say former ministers.

247 - Former ministers Maurício Muniz (Ports) and Miriam Belchior (Planning) criticize the "Pro-Brazil" plan proposed by the Jair Bolsonaro government to stimulate economic growth. "It has no substance whatsoever," they state. "The presentation made by the general who occupies the Civil House makes it clear that the emperor has no clothes. What was done, in seven slides of..." powerpoint"The plan was to create a working group that will deliver a proposal in 5 months," they say.

Within the Ministry of Infrastructure, the plan foresees approximately R$ 30 billion in public investments to resume around 70 projects that are currently stalled or operating below their full capacity. 

"If the Spending Cap is maintained, the increase in resources for public works will imply an even greater reduction in discretionary resources for all other areas, which have already fallen, in most cases, to half of what they were in 2014," they continue.

According to the former ministers, "the only way out is to end the Spending Cap to increase public investment and restore resources to areas that are becoming more urgent for the population every second." "Especially since there is no plan B," they add.

"The combination of public and private investment in infrastructure has been completely abandoned in the last five years, to the misfortune of the Brazilian people and to the despair of the economic sectors that fed the crows that are now pecking at their eyes."

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The incompetence of the Bolsonaro government, repeatedly demonstrated in 2019, was conclusively confirmed during this pandemic period, in a sequence of reckless and irresponsible actions with life-and-death consequences for the Brazilian population.

Those occupying the highest positions in the federal administration were unable to prepare the country to face the health crisis that had been repeatedly predicted since January of this year. 

They delayed measures to prepare the health system. They disregarded states and municipalities. They did not purchase supplies and equipment for hospitals and healthcare workers. They bargained for as long as they could to take measures to support the neediest families and businesses that were forced to halt their operations.

It was the Workers' Party (PT) and other left-wing parties that took the initiative to propose emergency aid and managed to get support to approve it in Congress, but once again the government is showing its incompetence in failing to get the aid to the registered families.

The same is happening with credit for businesses, which are complaining about the difficulty of accessing it and the conditions being offered by public and private banks.

Amid Bolsonaro's authoritarian and genocidal blunders and the proven incompetence of his team, his government launched a strategic action plan for recovery and resumption of socioeconomic growth that already has a name, but no content whatsoever: Pro-Brazil. 

The presentation given by the general who heads the Civil House makes it clear that the emperor has no clothes. What was done, in seven slides of powerpointThe plan was to create a working group that will deliver a proposal in 5 months.

The group's work hasn't even begun, but it already faces opposition within the government itself, starting with the Ministry of Economy, whose absence at the presentation ceremony was more discussed than the plan itself. 

One of the most acute phases of this series of blunders occurred on April 15th, almost a month after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Covid-19 pandemic globally. It was then that this government sent to the National Congress a Draft Budget Guidelines Law (PLDO) establishing that fiscal austerity will be maintained in 2021, and whose "fiscal anchor" is the same Spending Cap that is imploding public policies. This is a terrible piece of budgetary fiction that completely ignores the economic tragedy that will befall Brazil and the planet.

A week later, the same government launches a proposal that foresees investments in public works, and on the same day, members of the economic team say that the path forward is fiscal austerity and private investment in infrastructure, not public works. Following this, the military officer from the Civil House says that "the spending cap will not be touched."

Now, if the Spending Cap is maintained, the increase in resources for public works will imply an even greater reduction in discretionary resources for all other areas, which have already fallen, in most cases, to half of what they were in 2014.

The amount mentioned in the government press conference, which is not included in the powerpointThe initial estimate was R$30 billion. Some newspaper articles mention R$50 billion. This amount of resources would be invested over 4 or 10 years, another piece of information that was not made clear at the launch.

This is a negligible amount for Brazil's infrastructure, which has been neglected for the past five years, and for the fiscal stimulus needed to resume economic growth.

Just to give you an idea of ​​how limited these resources are: in 2007, the first year of the PAC (Growth Acceleration Program), R$ 14,6 billion was disbursed from the Union Budget; and in 2014, the year with the highest disbursement of the program, it was R$ 78,2 billion, in real values ​​of March 2020.

At a time when the government needs to be cohesive, it once again demonstrates that it is a collection of people with their own interests, completely out of touch with the needs of the Brazilian people and the reality of the gigantic economic crisis, which will require firm and swift measures.

Since the 2016 coup, the State and public investment, which today receive praise in newspaper pages and are printed on ministers' lab coats, have been systematically demonized. 

Public investment is at its lowest level in 50 years, thanks to the coup government of Michel Temer, exacerbated by the disastrous ultraliberal policies of Bolsonaro and Guedes. The combination of public and private investment in infrastructure has been completely abandoned in the last five years, to the misfortune of the Brazilian people and the despair of the economic sectors that fed the crows that are now pecking at their eyes.

For the Workers' Party, Brazil will only return to growth with progressively increasing volumes of public and private investment. This is the path to inclusive development that creates jobs and reduces inequalities, and it has already been tested and proven in our governments. 

The Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), created by President Lula and continued by President Dilma, completed economic and social infrastructure projects throughout the country, generating millions of jobs. The "My House, My Life" program alone created 1,7 million jobs in four years.

After the coup, public works were paralyzed and the concessions program (PIL), which President Dilma had left quite advanced, progressed slowly with only a few concessions being granted.

What they really like to do is privatize the assets of the Brazilian people.

Thanks to the management of the PT governments, the country is able to invest in infrastructure with public resources, even with a fiscal deficit. Brazil has no external public debt, which was eliminated in 2005 by President Lula, and has large international reserves – US$369 billion left by President Dilma. Furthermore, Brazil has its own currency and no inflationary risk, as its productive capacity is idle.

The Workers' Party (PT) already showed the way in 2019 when it proposed the Emergency Employment and Income Program, which already recommended resuming the stalled projects of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and the My House, My Life Program (MCMV) as an alternative to the current ultraliberal economic policy.

Senator Jaques Wagner has a proposed Constitutional Amendment, PEC 131, which, if approved, would authorize the federal government to invest up to 1,5% of GDP in infrastructure, outside of the Spending Cap.

Brazil has the means to confront the social and economic effects of this pandemic. The only way out is to end the Spending Cap to increase public investment and restore resources to areas that are becoming more urgently needed by the population every second. 

That's because there is no plan B.