At a press conference, Lula said that budgetary resources must be increased in social programs even if it implies sacrificing a spending ceiling established by the Constitution.
“We have to make inequality a priority and not the spending ceiling,” he told reporters on the independent websites.
“Brazil has to put the poor back in the budget and tax the rich”, he said, referring to his Workers’ Party’s support for taxing company profits and dividends.
Lula, 76, ruled Brazil from 2003 to 2010, and his government’s social programs lifted millions of Brazilians out of poverty. He spent time in jail on corruption charges that were later annulled, allowing him to stand for election again.
He is expected to face the ultra-conservative president Jair Bolsonaro in this year’s presidential race, although he has not yet formally declared his candidacy.
His clear lead in early polls has investors worried that Lula’s return will deepen Brazil’s budget deficit. The former president is considering the former governor of Sao Paulo Geraldo Alckmin as his running mate, in an effort to appeal to moderate voters and calm financial markets.
“I cannot want to be president to solve the problem of the financial system, for those who got rich from the pandemic,” he said. “There is only one reason for me to be a candidate: to show that the Brazilian people can be happy again.”
Source From: Ambito
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