Dollar could be lower without political uproar, says Gedes

The dollar could have been lower if not for the political uproar, Economy Minister Paulo Gedes said today (7) at a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies. He stated that the political war is affecting the financial market.

“The dollar could fall in relation to the real one if we didn’t have this war,” the minister said, without going into details. Today (7) the commercial dollar closed at 5.24 reais, the highest value since the end of May.

Despite a call for more political consensus, Gedes said the high dollar is helping some sectors of the Brazilian economy, such as domestic tourism. According to him, the current level of exchange is conducive to domestic travel.

“What happens today when the dollar is 5 reais? Modest families from all over Brazil benefit because this wealthy family, in quotation marks, instead of going to Disneyland with employees and a lot of people, travels in Brazil, ”he said. In his speech, the minister did not link domestic tourism with the restrictions on international travel imposed by the covid-19 pandemic.

Administrative reform

The Minister participated in two public hearings in the Chamber of Deputies. In the morning, he went to the Financial Inspection and Control Committee to provide clarifications on economic policy. And since noon, Gedes has been talking to a special commission that discusses administrative reform.

During the hearings on the administrative reform, the minister faced the demands of the opposition MPs about the government’s calculations with the economy promoted by the reform. Parliamentarians argue that the deadline for presenting the main points in the text expires tomorrow (8) and that the lack of details does not allow for amendments and changes.

The minister responded that data on the financial impact of the administrative reform is public and has been known since the proposal was sent to Congress last September. However, Gedes pledged to send the data back to the special commission.

The deputies demand the presentation of figures in the form of an appendix to the research of the reform. According to lawmakers, the Ministry of Economy itself was at odds on this issue, publishing estimates of savings of R $ 300 billion and R $ 450 billion over the next ten years.

Gedes defended the difference by stating that different numbers consider different scenarios for approval proposed constitutional amendment…

The parliamentarians attending the hearing want House of Deputies President Arthur Lira to extend the deadline for the submission of amendments and highlights after the detailed data is submitted by the economic group.