Politics · Brazil · 3 hrs ago
Meirelles says Brazil’s fiscal framework lacks clear spending limits
Former finance minister Henrique Meirelles criticized Brazil’s fiscal framework in an interview with CNN Money.
The framework was adopted by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government in 2023 to set rules for public spending.
Meirelles said its limits on government spending are not clear enough and argued for firmer limits instead of rules that vary with economic growth.
He said the main problem is that the framework is not being followed.
The government met its primary spending targets in recent years, but Meirelles said this was done by leaving extraordinary expenses out of the calculation.
He warned that the rule loses effectiveness and that public debt grows regardless of how the government counts its spending.
Henrique Meirelles said Brazil’s fiscal framework does not set spending limits as clearly and rigorously as needed.
The former finance minister and central bank president said flexible spending-growth measures make the rules less credible.
He called the framework’s biggest problem that it is not being followed.
Meirelles said targets were met only after extraordinary expenses were excluded from the calculation.
He said the framework loses effectiveness and that public debt grows regardless of how the government accounts for it.
- Who
- Henrique Meirelles, a former finance minister and former president of Brazil’s central bank.
- What
- He criticized Brazil’s fiscal framework as unclear and said it was not being followed.
- When
- Monday, October 26, 2026.
- Where
- In an exclusive interview with CNN Money.
- Why
- He said spending limits are not clear and direct enough, and that excluding extraordinary expenses weakens the rules.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Brazil’s government adopted the fiscal framework.
Meirelles criticized the framework in an interview with CNN Money.
- Speaker
- Henrique Meirelles
- Framework adopted
- 2023
- Interview date
- October 26, 2026
- Interview outlet
- CNN Money
- Issue raised
- Spending limits were not clear and direct enough
2 sources
What people are saying
clear, direct and rigorous
the biggest problem
is that it is not being followed
the debt grows regardless of how the government accounts for it