São Paulo – The Brazilian minister of Finance Guido Mantega has said this Thursday (28th) that the economic scenario is poised to change, on justifying the projections higher than the market’s included in the 2015 Annual Budget Bill, announced this Thursday morning. The government expects the economy to grow by 3% to R$ 5.756 trillion (US$ 2.543 trillion) and the inflation rate to be 5%. According to Mantega, issues such as drought and a smaller number of business days (due to Brazil’s hosting of the World Cup) will not repeat themselves next year.
“We are working with a GDP estimate of 3%, a minimum wage of R$ 788.06 (US$ 348.18) and 5% inflation. But the scenario is set to change, since the conjuncture issues seen this year will not happen again in 2015,” the minister said. The bill will be voted by the National Congress before being enacted by the president elected in the October election. The minimum wage is expected to increase by 8.8%.
According to Mantega, the international scenario has not improved at the expected rate this year, but the United States have recovered more solidly, and from now on he believes the country’s economy will grow more consistently. Europe, he says, is still "struggling," but an the economic scenario is expected to improve nonetheless.
The government estimates that the consolidated public sector’s primary surplus will range from 2% to 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), i.e. from R$ 114.7 billion to R$ 143.3 billion (US$ 50.6 billion-US$ 63.3 billion). The primary surplus consists of government savings to pay interest on its debt.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
