RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, met on Friday, February 14th, with entrepreneurs of the GRI Group, which includes leaders of the real estate and infrastructure sectors, in a hotel in the south zone of Rio.
Overlooking Copacabana beach for two hours, according to sources who attended the event, Guedes made an optimistic dissertation on the direction Brazil’s economy is heading but needed to explain himself about his latest controversial statements, in particular the most recent one, which affected the dollar’s value.
According to three executives heard by Broadcast (the Estado Group’s real-time news system) upon leaving the meeting, when asked, Guedes explained that he had no intention of insulting anyone by saying that “even housemaids were going to Disneyland,” with the dollar down.
He argued that, as a professor, he often gives examples to illustrate what he says, and that there was no derogatory intention in celebrating the high dollar level, which the minister deemed positive.
Guedes’ statement made on Wednesday, followed another when he called civil servants “parasites” that would be killing the “host” last Friday.
Reforms
Guedes outlined a growth and reform outlook for Brazil at the meeting, according to sources, and brought nothing new. He reiterated the need for fiscal reform but did not address administrative reform.
He readdressed the need to privatize Eletrobras, due to the company’s current lack of investment capacity, but did not mention a date on the government’s intentions for the sale.
According to sources, he praised the approval of new rules for gas distribution in Rio, and said he is waiting for other states to follow the same example to try to reduce the country’s energy rates.
The minister also said that the royalties Rio will collect from the production of oil and natural gas will restore the state’s economy in the next four or five years, but failed to comment on whether there will be an bid for pre-salt oil exploration, the area with the highest volume of production and therefore the one that yields the most for governments.