BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil is drawing up a new wave of fiscal stimulus in its battle against the economic ravages of the new coronavirus, but the most notable aspect may be what is missing: the fingerprints of Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.
FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes attends a news conference, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brasilia, Brazil, April 3, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
The “Pro-Brazil” plan for investment in infrastructure, mining, energy and regional development was announced at a Wednesday news conference by Presidential Chief of Staff Walter Braga Netto, an army general, alongside Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas, a former army engineer.
Guedes was nowhere to be seen, stirring questions in Brasilia about President Jair Bolsonaro’s commitment to fiscal discipline and boosting private investment over public spending.
Although the “Pro-Brazil” program is still in early planning stages, with no spending targets announced, two people familiar with the matter said that investments by the infrastructure ministry alone could rise to 30 billion reais ($5.5 billion), up from 18 billion reais in its current three-year budget.
At around 0.4% of gross domestic product, that is not particularly big in economic terms. But it could pack a much heavier political punch: the l