© Reuters. Lula and Rui Costa attend a meeting in Brasilia 01/18/2023 REUTERS/Adriano Machado
(Reuters) – President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will relaunch the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program this month, focusing on a low-income audience, Chief of Staff Minister Rui Costa said on Sunday.
In an interview with GloboNews, Costa said that the launch will take place in Bahia on February 14, as part of several trips that the president intends to make until March to launch programs that will boost the economy and quickly benefit the population.
“The president will be in Bahia, in the city of Santo Amaro, inaugurating a housing project and simultaneously other projects in other cities, broadcast live on a big screen,
there will be almost 3,000 units inaugurated that day”, said Costa.
“On that day (14) we will also publish the new guidelines for Minha Casa Minha Vida,” he added. “They had extinguished the first track, which is the track intended for the most needy people, so we resumed the program and we will also give priority to completing paralyzed works.”
According to Costa, around 120,000 units of track 1 were not completed and will be resumed.
The housing program has slowed down in recent years, with a number of construction companies opting to reduce launches in the segment given the low attractiveness of projects amid rising interest rates and inflation and falling incomes.
The latest changes took place in the second half of last year and included an increase in the salary range of families served.
Costa also said that on the 15th, Lula should be in Sergipe to announce the resumption of the road program, with the duplication of roads and new highways.
“It is a strong program and by the end of March several programs will be launched during these visits by the president”, he said. According to the minister, Lula should have travel schedules and openings every week for the next two months.
Costa also said that the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, should meet with the presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), this week to start discussions on the new fiscal anchor.
“This week he will start talks with the presidents of the Houses and it will be a very intense dialogue. Our will is that this materializes this semester.”
The government has until August to approve a new fiscal framework to replace the spending cap.
The Minister of the Civil House also defended that the tax reform that the government wants to see approved in Congress brings greater fiscal justice, reversing the situation of a higher collection of taxes from the poorest.
(By Marcela Ayres and Alexandre Caverni)