Without being radical, Ming points to Mantega's goal.
Celso Ming, an economic columnist for the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, acknowledges that the R$ 75 billion surplus was a good number and affirms that it wasn't a "handball goal," but a figure obtained within the rules of the game.
247 - In an environment dominated by radicals who refuse to admit that Brazil's primary economic surplus of R$75 billion in 2013 was a good number, the economic columnist for Estado de S. Paulo, Celso Ming, decided to stand out from the crowd in his article "It wasn't a handball goal" (read here).
According to him, "Minister Guido Mantega is right to celebrate the federal government's surplus revenue in 2013, of approximately R$ 75 billion, which represents a primary surplus of approximately 1,7% of GDP."
Ming further adds that it was "a beautiful goal," but issues a warning: "It remains to be seen whether he will win the game against the credit rating agencies that threaten to downgrade the quality of Brazil's debt securities, precisely because of the previously predicted poor performance of public accounts."