Petrobras is not on the list of first-term privatizations, says Guedes

The Minister of Economy, Paul Guedes, said on Tuesday (7) that Petrobras is not on the government’s privatization list in the current term.

Speaking in English during an event promoted by consultancy Eurasia, the minister said that he is in favor of the sale of the state-owned company, but that he has not received authorization from President Jair Bolsonaro.

“Everyone knows that I am in favor of privatizing all these companies, but the president said ok you can sell Correios, Eletrobras, several state companies can divest their subsidiaries that are not at the center of the companies, so we have a clear privatization policy , but Petrobras is not on the privatization list, at least not in this first government”, he said.

The minister once again defended that part of the funds raised from the sale of assets by the government be transferred to social programs. This idea was nurtured by his team, but has not yet been officially presented to Congress.

For him, instead of using 100% of the funds raised in privatizations to reduce the public debt, 20% of these resources could be transferred to the poorest.

In the minister’s assessment, society today understands that private companies are of greater value than state-owned companies. “Public opinion agrees that the cycle of state-owned companies is over,” he said.

Asked about the government’s priorities for 2023, should Bolsonaro be re-elected, Guedes he said that the country has an incomplete transition in the economy and defended the continuity of the liberal agenda.

According to him, it will be important to “complete the work” in the next term, approving, for example, the pension fund system, which was excluded by Congress when it approved the reform of the retirement rules in 2019.

The minister also defended the resumption of tax reform so that the taxation on companies is reduced.

At the event, the minister also stated that 2022 will be a difficult year because the country is going through a process of fighting inflation. For him, instead of a GDP increase of 3% or 4% next year, the country should have a much lower growth.