Brasília – Spending cuts of up to R$ 15 billion (US$ 6.6 billion) will be announced next week, the Brazilian minister of Finance Guido Mantega said in an interview to TV Globo network’s Bom Dia Brasil show.
"There will be no cuts in investment or the government’s social services,” said the minister. According to him, the cuts will cover travel and tickets, permanent material, third-party services and rents.
According to the minister, the government will monitor the impact of the cuts throughout the year. If need be, new cuts will be made – but no taxes will be raised. Mantega said “the important thing is for the 2.3% [primary surplus] target to be met, and it will at any cost.”
The primary surplus target concerns the payment of interest on the government debt, a sum which offsets the losses in tax collection stemming from tax breaks granted during the year. The primary surplus is therefore the sum of the government’s revenues and expenses, discounting spending on payment of interest.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
