The Brazilian federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira, from the Liberal Party (PL), announced an initiative to establish sanctions against key public officials in case of non-compliance with fiscal objectives and fiscal balance.
The project includes measures ranging from the suspension of new expenditures and hiring to the reduction and eventual suspension of politicians' salaries.
The proposal, presented through social media posts, references the reforms promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei.
Ferreira highlighted the public spending reduction policies implemented in Argentina and suggested transferring the consequences of a potential deterioration of public accounts to the responsible officials for the main political decisions.
President Javier Milei
According to the deputy, he is drafting a complementary bill and a constitutional amendment proposal to establish the new sanctions scheme.
"If the State fails to meet fiscal objectives, the first to lose benefits and stop receiving salaries will be: the president, the vice president, the ministers, the deputies, and the senators," Nikolas wrote.
The reference to Milei's reforms
In explaining the origin of the initiative, Ferreira directly pointed to the measures promoted by Milei's government. According to the legislator, in Argentina the libertarian administration "cut spending, confronted privileges, and restored balance in public accounts."
The deputy also highlighted the evolution of some indicators from the neighboring country. In his post, he stated that inflation and poverty have decreased and that Argentina has returned to recording a surplus.
Based on that model, Ferreira seeks to establish in Brazil a mechanism that links compliance with fiscal targets to the benefits and salaries of high-ranking officials.
Nikolas Ferreira
Criticism of Brazil's fiscal situation
The legislator also used his proposal to compare the fiscal situation of the governments of Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
According to the data cited by Ferreira, Bolsonaro left the country in 2022 with a gross debt equivalent to 73.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and a primary surplus.
Regarding Lula's management, he stated that he inherited a balanced budget but questioned the subsequent increase in debt.
"Lula inherited a balanced budget. However, in May of this year, the debt has already reached 81.1% of GDP, around 10.6 trillion reais. Have we not seen the same level of budgetary balance that Bolsonaro left? We have not seen it since 2023," he asserted.
Lula da Silva
Progressive cuts for officials
The proposal establishes a series of measures that would be applied progressively if a fiscal imbalance occurs.
Initially, new contracts and appointments would be suspended, along with advertising expenses, political transfers, and certain parliamentary amendments not aimed at services considered essential.
If the deficit continues, cuts to public officials' benefits would proceed, along with a reduction of half their salaries.
As a last resort, the project contemplates the total suspension of remuneration for politicians covered by the rule.
Ferreira assured that areas such as health, pensions, social assistance, education, and security would be excluded from the cuts scheme. "Hospitals, pensions, assistance, education, and security will not stop," he concluded.
In this way, Nikolas Ferreira's proposal takes as a reference the reforms promoted by Javier Milei in Argentina and suggests transferring the consequences of the fiscal deficit to the officials occupying the main positions in the Brazilian state.
