Brazil Finance Minister Durigan Blames High Interest Rates for Rising Debt FAST-MOVING
Finance Minister Dario Durigan told GloboNews that Brazil’s public‑debt growth is driven by the cost of high interest rates, not by excess government spending. He explained that the government is refinancing older obligations with new Selic‑linked bonds, which raises the debt roll‑over and pushed the Federal Public Debt above R$ 9.2 trillion in June. Durigan said the administration is focused on lowering the basic rate and improving fiscal results, noting recent inflation successes and better sovereign‑risk ratings.
Planning Minister Bruno Moretti warned that revisiting the “zero‑base” fiscal rule at this stage would be “very bad.” He argued that stricter fiscal targets are ineffective without the tools to meet them and called for greater flexibility in the budget. Moretti highlighted the 2027 Budget Guidelines Bill (PLDO) as the framework for fiscal consolidation, the neutral handling of fuel‑price shocks, and the need to align parliamentary amendments with public‑policy priorities ahead of the pre‑election period.
Entities: Brazil · Bruno Moretti · Darío Durigan · Selic · Zero‑base fiscal rule
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti claimed the 2024 expense‑review measures were underestimated but helped maintain fiscal resilience. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Bruno Moretti said it would be very bad to revisit the zero fiscal rule now. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said the 2027 Budget Guidelines Bill (PLDO) includes a fiscal vision for upcoming years. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said placing the 'Pé‑de‑Meia' program within the education floor was an optimisation equivalent to a floor reform. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said the government's measures to mitigate the fuel‑price shock used subsidies and tax exemptions with fiscal neutrality and did not create fiscal noise. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said a stricter fiscal target is useless without the instruments to meet it. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said the fuel‑price measures were intended to soften price shocks, not to achieve political price reductions. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti claimed the 2024 expense‑review measures were underestimated by analysts but were successful and reinforced fiscal resilience. (Moretti)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Moretti said a stricter fiscal target is useless without instruments to achieve it. (Moretti)