BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s leftist President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that many expenditures considered government spending should instead be seen as investments, while insisting that he would guarantee responsible fiscal policy.
He added that state-owned companies would now be “respected,” seeking to draw a contrast with the pro-privatization policies of outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro. State oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA would not be carved up, Lula said, while state lenders Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica Federal would not be privatized.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu)