The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, said today that there will be no shortage of resources for health or the economy.
Therefore, the minister's statement was made during a video conference held by the president of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp), Paulo Skaf, and 40 members of the Superior Council for Dialogue for Brazil.
Combating the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy was the theme of the meeting.
“No Brazilian will be left behind. We will release all the resources that healthcare needs and, in the same way, we will not allow the economy to run out of liquidity,” the minister assured.
However, he also ruled out raising taxes at this time, as some members of Congress have suggested. “The crisis we are experiencing is temporary. If we raise taxes, we will break the legs of companies, which will prevent the recovery of the economy later on,” the minister said.
Minister Paulo Guedes
For Skaf, “the money has to reach the companies”. However, he asked the minister that the measure announced yesterday (27) to finance the payroll of small companies that earn between R$360 thousand and R$10 million for two months be extended to other companies, both smaller and larger.
Therefore, Guedes told businesspeople that one of the government's biggest challenges now is to get more tests for the population.
Despite responding to the minister, businesspeople were willing to contribute by purchasing tests to test employees and passing the surplus on to the government.
“We are going to buy one million tests. Around 70,000 will be for our employees and the rest we will donate,” said Ambev’s co-chairman, Victorio de Marchi.
Edgard Corona, president of Grupo Bio Ritmo/Smart Fit, also promised to purchase tests for his employees and the public. “We want to flood Brazil with tests,” Corona said.
Paulo Guedes said that the Chief Minister of the Civil House, Braga Neto, was assigned to take care of the logistics of distributing the tests donated by the companies.