Brazil Considering Budget Spending Freeze for Up to 20 Years

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Brazilian authorities have proposed to freeze the budget spending for 20 years to stabilize the economy and curb the debt growth, the country's finance minister said.

"With this kind … of tough fiscal policy … everyone will be able to project the numbers… lot of the uncertainty is coming down," Henrique Meirelles told The Financial Times in an interview on Sunday.

Meirelles took office in mid-May, as the Brazilian parliament voted to start impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff after she was accused of concealing the country’s budget deficit ahead of the 2014 re-election. Following her suspension, part of her government was dismissed.

Following the appointment, Meirelles was expected to announce a set of measures to change the situation in the country's economy.

Brazil's economy has been facing growing problems with a shrinking GDP, a rising budget deficit and increasing unemployment. Brazil's annual GDP growth rate fell by 5.4 percent in the first quarter of 2016 after hitting —5.9 percent in late 2015, which is the worst figure in decades, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.