Bolsonaro To Merge Finance, Planning and Trade Into One Super Ministry

The president-elect economic advisor Paulo Guedes will lead the joint ministry of Finance, Planning, Industry and Trade

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Brasília and Rio de Janeiro

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro decided to create a turbocharged Ministry of Economy. Led by Paulo Guedes, the new department will a merger of the ministries of Finance, Planning, and Industry, Trade and Services.

Brazil's Industrial National Confederation already released a statement criticizing the decision. According to the association, the sector needs a ministry of its own. Guedes disagrees.
For the future minister, the union between Finance and Industry is meant to reduce taxes, along with free trade policy.

Congressman Onyx Lorenzoni (C), the future presidential chief of staff, leaves after a meeting with President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, in Rio de Janeiro - REUTERS

Economic growth, according to him, will come from "low interest, fiscal reform, and reduced red tape." The Bolsonaro administration will also merge the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment, said Onyx Lorenzoni, future Chief of Staff.

The measure is not a consensus among agribusiness agents, and it also concerns environmentalist activities, who think the merge will cause more deforestation and rural violence.


Translated by NATASHA MADOV

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