Fiscal restraint will ensure bigger surplus in 2003, says Palocci

13/01/2003 - 18h12

Brasília, 1/14/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Although the 2003 macroeconomic scenario is positive, the Lula economic team is considering revising some of the targets set by the Cardoso administration. One of those targets is the primary surplus in the Brazil-IMF agreement, currently set at 3.75% of the GDP. Because of the size of government debt, Finance Minister, Antônio Palocci, says it may be necessary to increase revenues without increasing expenditures, making for a bigger primary surplus. "We want a primary surplus not because of the IMF, but because we have debts," added the minister. (AB/LT)