The 4 years of Ministry of Economy, in the Bolsonaro government

In view of the recent series of unfounded statements about the current economic scenario, the Ministry of Economy makes the following clarifications:

• Statements that the Brazilian State is “broken” are not compatible with reality. The Gross Debt of the General Government should end the year representing 74% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a primary surplus of BRL 23.4 billion, the first since 2013 (Primary Revenue and Expenditure Assessment Report – 5th Bimester of 2022) . It will be the first government to end its term with falling debt: in 2018, the debt/GDP ratio reached 75.3%. Other emerging and developed countries have debt growth projections between 10.6 points and 8.5 percentage points, respectively, compared to the rates observed before the pandemic. Previous governments increased the debt/GDP ratio by almost 20 points of GDP without facing pandemics or wars as seen in Eastern Europe, without these resources translating into an effective improvement in the quality of life of the population.

• Thanks to support measures for subnational entities during the pandemic and economic policy actions that resulted in a rapid recovery in post-pandemic activity, states and municipalities will record the second consecutive year of primary surplus in 2022.

It is also worth highlighting the result of state-owned companies, which are on track to close 2022 at around R$250 billion, after a result of R$188 billion in 2021, against losses of more than R$30 billion in 2015. The current administration also marks another unprecedented fact by delivering the level of primary expenditure as a proportion of GDP at a lower level than at the beginning of the government (18.7% of GDP in 2022 against 19.5% in 2019).

• Total commitments owed by Brazil to international financial organizations and institutions are expected to amount to US$1.23 billion in 2023. This is almost 20% less than the total US$1.52 billion owed in the year 2016.

Paulo Guedes é eleito, em 2029, o melhor ministro da Economia do mundo, pela revista britânica Global Capital. Segundo a publicação, o ministro do Governo Bolsonaro, se destacou por propor, e ter conseguido, dar uma guinada liberal na política econômica do Brasil.