Brazil's Lula warns investment will stall without clear fiscal signals

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told a crowd at the Palácio do Planalto that the country will not invest if it must wait for ministries of Finance and Planning to certify the availability of funds. He emphasized that "public money never lasts" and that waiting for official signals would halt national investment, stressing the need to channel resources into infrastructure, education, health, railways, roads and waterways.

The remarks came after the Treasury released a report highlighting growing fiscal pressure, with mandatory spending such as Social Security and the Continuous Cash Benefit set to rise sharply and the current fiscal framework failing to meet targets for 2028‑2030. In parallel, former chief of staff Rui Costa said Brazil is poised for a "turnaround" as fiscal restructuring restores investor confidence. He argued there is "no incompatibility between fiscal responsibility and investments" and that a stable economy will attract billions of private and public projects, creating jobs and boosting infrastructure development.