RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The reduction of Brazil's basic interest rate Selic will save the Brazilian government 110 billion reals (26.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020, President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday.
"Next year, we will pay 110 billion reals less in interest rates due to the fall in the Selic rate," the president told reporters. "We are recuperating Brazil. It is not an easy task."
The Selic rate has been cut four times this year from 6.5 percent to record-low 4.5 percent.
Brazilian Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes said earlier this week that the government wants to cut payroll taxes and is considering the possibility of a new tax on digital financial operations.
Bolsonaro said the possible new tax has not been presented to him yet and that the government wants to simplify taxes.
"What Minister Guedes wants is to substitute taxes. He wants to simplify this web of taxes, because it is difficult to be an employer in Brazil. Any inspector that arrives at your company will find a way to fine you. You need to be a hero to be an employer in Brazil. You need to have supernatural powers to escape inspections," he said.
