BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s finance minister said on Monday that remaining stumbling blocks to a fiscal package aimed at curbing mandatory expenses had been resolved, but added that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wants to extend the cuts to one more ministry.
The Brazilian real currency has weakened to multi-year lows against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks amid government hesitation to announce a fiscal package to stem a rapid rise in mandatory spending.
Speaking to journalists in Brasilia, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad gave no time frame for when the package might be publicly announced. He added that outstanding issues that had held up discussions last week were resolved.
Still, he said Lula has now asked to include a new ministry in the spending-cut package, adding that the talks with the unnamed ministry might be concluded by Wednesday.
Lula and his chief of staff held meetings in the last few days with leaders of more than 10 ministries, including those from Health, Education and Pension, according to the government.
The government has said it would present the fiscal package after municipal elections held in late October, but has offered no concrete timeline for the announcement since then.
Asked if the package has stalled during the recent talks, Haddad said no, but that the government made adjustments to make the measures “more understandable and palatable.”
Haddad said he would speak with Lula on Tuesday about presenting the package to the Lower House and Senate chiefs, adding he believed the measures could be approved by Congress this year.
(Reporting by Victor Borges in BrasiliaAdditional reporting and writing by Andre Romani in Sao PauloEditing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Anthony Esposito and Matthew Lewis)
