Guedes Vows to Proceed With Major Privatizations Next Year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said he will create a “fast track” system to accelerate privatizations next year. The statement was given at a press conference for foreign correspondents at the ministry office in Rio de Janeiro.

Broadcast, the Estado de S.Paulo real-time news system, had access to audio at the end of the interview. According to Guedes, the privatization goal for this year, of R$80 billion (US$20 billion), has already been virtually achieved. The largest sales, however, are expected for next year.

“Our privatization goal of R$80 billion was virtually reached before the end of the year, with BR Distribuidora and other small privatizations. The largest will advance next year, we will create a fast track for privatizations, in order to accelerate them,” he said.

Guedes began the interview by reviewing his just over eight months in office. According to him, the Jair Bolsonaro administration is made up of an alliance of conservatives in social matters and liberals in the economy.

He celebrated progress in Mercosur and in negotiations with the European Union, particularly the negotiations EFTA, a group comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein. “We are now talking with Singapore, Korea, Canada and also with the Americans,” he added.

According to the minister, in a year and a half, Brazil will reindustrialize its productive structure to make energy cheaper. “We are going to reduce from US$13 to US$6, the price of a million BTU (thermal Units) of gas, at least initially, which is the price in Europe and Japan,” he said.

Regarding the pension reform bill, he said that “it is effectively being done, it is in the final stages in Congress”.