Temer tries to sell optimism while deepening the recession.
President Michel Temer said that his government is adopting measures to pull the country out of the crisis. GDP fell 0,8% in the quarter, and all sectors of the economy declined – agriculture (-1,4%), industry (-1,3%), and services (-0,6%). "The last word I want to use, to summarize everything we've discussed, is optimism," he said. According to him, the government is adopting "serious" and "responsible" attitudes to "prepare the country for tomorrow." The proposed constitutional amendment freezing public spending, the pension reform that limits retirement to 65, and a project that practically eliminates the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) are proposals from "a government of tomorrow?"
Mariana Branco - Reporter for Agência Brasil
President Michel Temer said this Saturday (17) that the government is adopting “serious” and “responsible” attitudes to “prepare the country for tomorrow”. He made the statement in an interview with Rádio Liderança, from Pará. Earlier, Temer was supposed to have participated in the inauguration of the S11D Eliezer Batista Complex, of the mining company Vale, in Canaã dos Carajás, in southeastern Pará.
However, the trip was canceled due to rain in the region. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Fernando Coelho Filho, had arrived in the city earlier because the plane he was traveling on managed to land, despite the bad weather.
"These measures we are taking are intended to pull the country out of the crisis. The last word I want to say, to summarize everything we have discussed, is optimism," said Temer.
Progress on the economic agenda
In recent days, the government has made progress on the economic agenda. On Tuesday (13), the Senate approved in the second round the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) 55, or Spending Cap PEC. The proposal, enacted on Thursday (15), limits the growth of public spending to the inflation of the previous year for 20 years.
Furthermore, in the early hours of Thursday, the Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies approved the admissibility of PEC 287, which deals with the Social Security reform. On Friday (16), the president and the economic team announced a package to stimulate growth, including regularization of tax debts, deregulation and more access to credit.
In the radio interview, Temer said he "immensely" regretted being unable to reach Pará and praised Vale's project. The complex is considered the largest iron ore project in the company's history and foresees investments of US$14,3 billion. "What we need is precisely productive investments. And this investment will naturally generate many jobs," the president stated.