BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian lower house speaker Hugo Motta said on Tuesday that the chamber will put a greater priority on the country’s fiscal stability.
In an interview with TV outlet GloboNews, Motta, who was elected lower house chief last Saturday, said the government needs to acknowledge that Brazil’s economic situation is critical, and that a strategy for raising revenues will not work without controlling expenses.
“The numbers regarding our economy are really very worrying and we know the serious consequences this can have for the Brazilian population,” Motta said.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration sent a spending cut package to Congress late last year, a move that led to a sell-off of Brazil’s real currency after market analysts deemed the measures as insufficient to control expending.
The real has regained ground this year, notching on Monday its longest streak of gains in 20 years.
(Reporting by Maria Carolina Marcello in Brasilia; Writing by Andre Romani; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle)
