Brazil’s economic recovery advances with private sector investments – Minister Guedes

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil already has a total of R$700 (US$125) billion in contracts signed for the next ten years of private sector investments. This was one of the themes presented by the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, during the panel “The role of the construction industry in the economic recovery” on Tuesday afternoon (30).

The panel is part of the 93rd National Meeting of the Construction Industry (Enic) – Policy & Strategy.

According to the Minister of Economy, economic recovery and sustainable growth will come through the private sector. “The plan is to transform the Brazilian economy into a great market economy, a great mass-consumption economy, an economy that has lower taxes, an economy that is more open to economic integration, an economy that is unbureaucratized, an economy that depends more on private investment instead of state-owned companies,” he said.

During the event, Paulo Guedes pointed out that private sector investments for Brazilian growth already amount to R$700 billion, taking into account, including the 5G Auction, held on November 4.

“We had counted R$544 billion of investments just before I went to Dubai; then we did the 5G [Auction]. With 5G came another R$50 billion, that is, we reached R$600 [billion] and another commitment of another R$100 [billion], that is, R$700 billion,” he accounted.

ECONOMIC UPTURN

Despite the health crisis caused by Covid-19, the economy grew about 5.3% in a year and a half. According to the information note “Resumption of formal and informal employment as activity improves”, released on Tuesday (30/11), the data for the third quarter indicate an increase of 3.6 million jobs.

“We have already created more than three million jobs in a year and a half. So Brazil is growing at 5.3 [%], created 3.5 million jobs, the service sector is coming back now. The service sector is coming back; the tourism sector is coming back. Brazil is condemned to grow,” the Minister of the Economy emphasized.

Job creation

The National Construction Industry Meeting also hosted Minister Rogério Marinho of Regional Development and Minister Onyx Lorenzoni of Labor and Social Security, who debated the theme: “How to reduce inequalities and generate jobs”.

During the panel, the Minister of Regional Development spoke about the resumption of employment in Brazil driven by the service sector and civil construction. “Each real (R$) employed in civil construction has an extraordinary return, especially in the maintenance and generation of jobs,” he said.

About informal work, the Minister of Labor and Social Security highlighted the importance of bringing Brazilians into formal employment. According to the Minister, there are about 40 million informal employees in Brazil. “we have to be capable, this is the challenge, we are working on it, a platform has to be built that allows the transition from informality to formality,” he highlighted.

The minister was confident about Brazil’s performance in job creation last year, especially with the crisis generated by the coronavirus. “Brazil is generating employment in a crisis comparable to a world cataclysm; we are managing to leave with our population well protected, the country in Latin America that created the most jobs and, if all goes well, by December we will beat a 20-year historical record in the generation of formal employment,” he stated.