Finance Minister Dario Durigan, who also coordinates economic policy for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election campaign, said after voting near Avenida Paulista that the government’s recent measures respect fiscal responsibility. He listed fuel subsidies, the end of online sports betting, known as bets, and an inflation adjustment to Bolsa Família. None of them, he said, expands the executive’s spending limit.
The second-round vote comes after Flávio won the first round by 2.2 million votes.
No fiscal expansion, Durigan says
“We are working within the same fiscal limit, there is no fiscal expansion,” Durigan said. “We guarantee a primary surplus in 2027.”
He said there are no defined fiscal impact estimates yet for campaign proposals such as Pé-de-Meia Universitário and Pix MEI. Their effects will depend on available fiscal space, and the measures are not yet ready.
Comparison with the Bolsonaro government
Durigan argued that the primary result, which excludes interest payments, improved under Lula compared with Jair Bolsonaro’s government. He acknowledged that fiscal adjustment still needs to advance.
“Beyond improving social inequality and hunger, the fiscal issue was also better under the Lula government than under the Bolsonaro government,” he said.
Durigan also said that centre-right voters had come to recognise Lula’s capacity to defend sovereignty and democracy.
