Romeu Zema, the presidential candidate of the Novo party, said on Monday (24) that, if elected, he will carry out a fiscal adjustment to bring Brazil's benchmark interest rate, the Selic, down from the current 14% to 6% a year, without detailing the measures he would take. In an interview with TV Globo at the broadcaster's studios in Rio de Janeiro, the former governor of Minas Gerais also defended amnesty for those convicted over the January 8, 2023 riots and called the trials held by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) "clearly political", according to g1.
Zema was the first candidate interviewed in the network's series with presidential hopefuls ahead of the October election, broadcast live after the Jornal Nacional newscast and conducted by journalists Renata Vasconcellos and César Tralli. Globo invited the six best-placed candidates in a Quaest poll published on August 14, with the order set by a draw.
Interest at 6% and the minimum wage
Speaking about his economic proposals, Zema said the priority of an eventual government of his would be lower interest rates. "With a serious government, with credibility, fighting corruption and fraud, this rate falls to 6%. That alone would save us R$ 800 billion a year", he said. The candidate did not explain, however, what the fiscal adjustment would consist of or how he would bring down the Selic, which is set by the Central Bank.
On the minimum wage, the candidate guaranteed it would at least keep up with inflation. "I guarantee nobody will have a loss. If there is inflation, we will pay all of the inflation", he said. A raise above inflation, though, would depend on a strong economic performance.
The first question of the interview was about the public debt of Minas Gerais, which nearly doubled during Zema's almost eight years as governor. He replied that the problem was "inherited from the 1990s" and blamed the interest charged by the federal government. "I paid R$ 23 billion to retirees who were not receiving their pensions. I paid R$ 13 billion to the federal government, to public servants, and today the debt represents much less for the economy of Minas than it did when I took office", he said. Zema also said he took office with a R$ 11 billion deficit in 2018 and left with a R$ 5 billion surplus.
A check by g1's Fato ou Fake team rated the surplus claim as "not quite so". According to the fact-checkers, the R$ 5.1 billion positive balance refers to 2024 and was boosted by extraordinary revenue from the Mariana and Brumadinho dam-collapse settlement agreements. At the end of 2025, Zema's last full year in office, the surplus was R$ 1.1 billion, and the state finance secretariat projects a R$ 5 billion deficit for 2026.
Amnesty for January 8 convicts
Zema said that, if elected, he will grant amnesty to those convicted over the January 8, 2023 attacks, when supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro stormed and vandalized the seats of the three branches of government in Brasília. In his view, those involved should be punished for vandalism and depredation, and there are courts in Brazil "doing more politics than actual justice".
"I will grant amnesty or, at the very least, a court that is not political, a court that is judicial", Zema said.
According to O Antagonista, the candidate extended the promise to former president Jair Bolsonaro, who was convicted by the STF. "There is no coup attempt in the history of humankind that was a vandalism movement like that of January 2023. What we saw was persecution", Zema said, citing the case of "a girl who stained public property with lipstick".
On other topics, Zema said he trusts Brazil's electronic voting machines, although he defended adding printed receipts as an "improvement", and said security measures adopted by El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele could be adapted to Brazil "within our law", while disagreeing with the suspension of rights. According to Revista Oeste, he also defended privatizing federal state-owned companies such as Petrobras, Banco do Brasil and Caixa, and said he is against mandatory vaccination of children.
Globo's interview series continues on Tuesday (25) with Ronaldo Caiado (PSD). Renan Santos (Missão) speaks on Wednesday (26), President Lula (PT) on Thursday (27), Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) on Friday (28) and Augusto Cury (Avante) on Saturday (29).