INTERIM LEADERS FOCUS ON ECONOMY
BRAZILIAN POLITICS
RIO DE JANEIRO •Brazil’s new interim government has announced sweeping financial reforms and austerity measures in a turn to the right that is likely to inspire protests.
Michel Temer, acting president, met with his 23 new ministers for the first time Friday and made it clear that tackling the economic crisis was his top priority. But with Brazil’s left still reeling from the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff, which she labelled a “coup,” controversial changes to pensions and public spending were expected to provoke yet more unrest.
Henrique Meirelles, Brazil’s new finance minister, indicated that a new minimum retirement age was in the cards.
“We do not promise values that cannot be fulfilled. Public expenses are always paid by the population, and so is social welfare,” Meirelles, former president of Brazil’s central bank, said in an interview with Bom Dia Brasil.
He also pledged to cut unnecessary expenses and privileges, but the most pressing matter was the adjustment of the fiscal target before the end of the month to avoid entering a government shutdown. The government must change the balance to a deficit of 96-billion reals ($35.35 billion) or face paralysis.
In his first speech as president, Temer said: “We will not talk of crisis, we will work.”
As part of the reforms, the government has also reduced the number of ministries, eliminating them or combining them with others.
Temer moved quickly to announce his new team, whose star appears to be Meirelles, widely respected for serving as central bank chief during the boom years from 2003 to 2010.
“Our biggest challenge is to staunch the process of free fall of our economy,” Temer said at a swearingin ceremony of his cabinet. “First of all, we need to balance our public spending. The sooner we are able to balance our books, the sooner we’ll be able to restart growth.”
He also promised to support the widening investigation into corruption at the state oil company that has already ensnared leading politicians from a variety of parties and even implicated Temer himself — as well as several members of the new cabinet.
His choice of ministers also raised criticism for its makeup: All its members are middle-aged or elderly white men — a particularly sore point in this majority nonwhite country. Six women, including one black, were included in the 39 members of Rousseff’s cabinet when she began her second term last year.
Temer made a bid for peace with Rousseff, offering his “institutional respect” for the suspended leader.
“This is not a moment for celebrations, but one of profound reflection,” he said.