Bolsonaro’s critics ‘disrespect the facts,’ says Brazilian economy minister

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that critics of Jair Bolsonaro’s government claim that there will be a cursed legacy next year. In his opinion, these people sabotage the country and avoid looking at the economic facts.

At an event on Monday (18), Guedes defended the current leadership: “It leaves the country with 800 billion in [contracted] investments, the independent central bank, new regulatory frameworks in all investment sectors, and more.”

“People don’t respect the facts anymore: the external balance is fine, public budgets are balanced, inflation is going down, the growth correction is up.”

Guedes said the country would grow by 2% with high-interest rates, showing a structural element to growth.

“The data show that inflation and unemployment have fallen and incomes have risen.”

The statement was made during an event at the headquarters of the CVM (Commission of Real Estate Values) in Rio.

MORE EMPLOYMENT THAN IN THE US

Guedes said that Brazil creates more jobs than the United States. He said the country is opening about 300 thousand official employment and more than 600 thousand in the informal market.

“For the first time in history, we may have 100 million Brazilians working,” he said.

“We are creating more jobs than the American economy”.

Brazil created 277,000 formal jobs in May. The unemployment rate fell to 9.8% during the same period.

The United States created 390,000 jobs and posted a rate of 3.6% for the month.