Rebalancing fiscal policy is one of the main challenges of the current and the next administration. This particular subject will be covered in this year’s electoral debate and is the basis for the Fiscal Policy Observatory website, launched by the Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV IBRE) and researcher Manoel Pires on Wednesday, April 25. The website will bring together historical series of public statistics, analyses of subjects surrounding Brazil’s fiscal situation, as well as tips on reading and educational content on the matter.

The Fiscal Policy Observatory is geared for professionals, scholars, journalists, and other people who may be interested, including those with little knowledge on the subject. According to Pires, the site will serve as a tool to promote qualified debate.

“People already have access to the data. But we are centralizing the information, selecting and organizing what is important, and presenting the data in a simpler and more accessible way. This allows us to subsidize public debate around the fiscal policy goals: stability, economic growth, and equality”.

According to the expert, the new website is launched at a crucial time considering the country’s current scenario, tending to the pressing need to discuss tax issues. “This is a very important year, because the population must be able to set their priorities straight for the upcoming elections. Several fiscal matters will return to the agenda in 2019, and the way the next administration chooses to solve these issues will steer public accounts for the next few years”, said the researcher.

Pires pointed out some of the main topics, such as the discussion surrounding the minimum wage adjustment formula, fulfillment of the Golden Rule, and the process of streamlining tax rules, social security reform, and civil servant policies, as well as other structural reforms. For the economist, the country must advance the debate on reforms, despite the signs of gradual economic improvement.

“We’ve been through a very severe downturn, which is when government falls short in tax collection and the deficit increases. First of all, recovering economic growth is critical to contain this issue. Secondly, the interest rate is falling significantly, which lowers the public debt rollover cost. With the recovery of economic growth and the falling interest rate, the size of the problem is better scaled and the debate focuses around the reforms”, he said.

The content of the website is available as of today, in Portuguese.

Learn more about the Fiscal Policy Observatory.