This Thursday (04), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) sneered, saying that in Brazil, “everyone can talk about everything, except interest rates”. He was saying that the consumer cares more about the value of the premiums of a good than the value of interest, when he amended: “I don’t say that, Roberto Campos Neto [presidente do Banco Central]Because I agree with you, no. This council can even discuss the interest rate if it wants to.”
He said, “It is as if one man alone knows more than the heads of 215 million people.” The statement was made during the first plenary session of the CDESS (Council for Sustainable Economic and Social Development), the so-called Council, at Itamaraty Palace, in Brasília.
The President spoke at the opening part of the meeting, which started at around 10:00 am and will continue until 5:00 pm, when he will head to the UK, where he will meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and take part in the coronation. to King Charles III.
The president, in his speech, highlighted that Conselhão is “not only an image of the Brazil we are, but also of the Brazil we want to be. A Brazil in which dialogue and the search for consensus are stronger than hatred and failed attempts to divide the country.”
Brazil in which the most important decisions for the country are made in broad daylight, face to face, face to face. He added that Brazil is above all a democracy.
“Here is not a space for people to come and speak well of government, nor just to make a diagnosis, it is a space for you to help govern this country, to say how you want things to be done. It is not a space for complaints and claims, it is a space for production.”
During his speech, the President highlighted the challenges posed by hunger, inequality and the climate crisis. He said that the discussions that will take place in this space will help build agreements and consensus on how to face these challenges.
“I place a lot of expectations and a lot of hope in the world that you can create from the discussions here,” he said. “The real power of public policies comes from the fact that they are considered legitimate and necessary by the widest sections of our society.”
Highlighting the importance of the council during its first two terms, the president added, “Everything that is approved here will be taken very seriously by the government.”
Council role
The Council shall be responsible for advising the President of the Republic and the ministers in formulating policies and directives aimed at sustainable economic and social development.
According to a statement from Palazzo Planalto, the space aims to “discuss agendas and topics of interest to the most diverse segments of society” and among the sectors represented, “social movements, the financial sector, agribusiness and financial technology”.
Conselhão was created by law in 2003, and extinguished in 2019 by Bolsonaro’s government. In addition to drafting normative indicators, policy proposals and procedural agreements, the Secretariat will also evaluate proposals for public policies aimed at sustainable economic and social development, and clarify the federal government’s relations with representatives of civil society.
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