Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), the party's candidate for president, promised to replace Brazil's current fiscal framework, known as the arcabouço, with a new spending cap if elected, at a dinner with bankers and business leaders on Thursday night (27) in São Paulo. The gathering brought together 14 financial market executives and was hosted by Marcelo Kayath, former head of Credit Suisse Brasil, according to SBT News.
According to Valor Econômico, the candidate presented an outline of his government platform and named three priorities for a potential administration: public security, fiscal discipline and political coordination with Congress. The guest list published by SBT News includes Luiz Carlos Trabuco (Bradesco), Milton Maluhy (Itaú), Gilson Finkelsztain (Santander), Roberto Campos Neto (Nubank), Fábio Barbosa (Natura) and Pedro Parente (BRF), among others. Businesswoman Dani Marques also attended.
According to SBT News, the senator's team argued for scrapping the arcabouço and bringing back the teto de gastos, a constitutional ceiling on federal spending, claiming that the Lula government had rendered the spending-limit rule meaningless. The judicial recovery filings of the Habib's restaurant chain and retailer Casas Bahia were cited as symptoms of the economic moment. Columnist Graciliano Rocha at UOL reported that Flávio promised to end the current framework and create a new mechanism to control public spending.
Jokes about cabinet posts and the Central Bank
In a joking tone, executives floated Dani Marques and Kayath as possible chiefs of staff and finance ministers, respectively, SBT News reports. Flávio was called "more fortunate" than his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), for having "two oil wells" instead of just "one Ipiranga gas station", a reference to former economy minister Paulo Guedes. The senator also joked that Roberto Campos Neto would get a third term at the Central Bank. The former monetary authority chief replied that he prefers to stay on Nubank's board.
Guests interviewed by SBT News stressed that the dinner did not amount to a formal endorsement of the campaign, but a chance to hear the proposals. The meeting nonetheless marks a shift in the sector's stance toward the senator. In May, after the scandal involving the film "Dark Horse" and banker Daniel Vorcaro, few executives agreed to meet him publicly.
The dinner took place right after Flávio's trip to Alagoas, where he held motorcade events in Maceió and in the state's countryside. With just over a month to go before the first round, a PoderData poll cited by SBT News shows Lula with 45% and Flávio with 44% of voting intentions in a potential runoff. The senator's campaign has not yet detailed how the promised new spending cap would work.