FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes attends a seminar on the resumption of the Brazilian economy, in Brasilia, Brazil, December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino
December 19, 2020
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro said in a video published on Saturday that his finance minister Paulo Guedes assured him he will stay on in the government until the end of his administration.
Bolsonaro acknowledged in the video that Guedes is unhappy because of the difficulties experienced in implementing his economic agenda, which involve significant cuts in public spending and a tax reform long-awaited in financial circles.
“It’s logical that we see that once in a while he becomes irritated because certain measures require a (congressional) vote,” Bolsonaro said of Guedes. “I know how parliament works, but he’s still learning.”.
Guedes was in the private sector before joining Bolsonaro and is a cofounder of investment bank BTG Pactual. He advised Bolsonaro on economic matters in his 2018 presidential run and has been finance minister since he assumed the presidency on Jan. 1, 2019 for a four-year term.
(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; editing by Grant McCool)