Finance Minister Dario Durigan on Monday (27) called Argentine President Javier Milei a "clown" as he pushed back against the Argentine leader's criticism of Brazil's economy.In a telephone interview with Rádio Jornal, based in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, Durigan said: "The clown who is president of Argentina came to Brazil yesterday and criticized Brazil when Argentina's country risk is much higher, its public debt is much higher and its inflation is much higher. There's no reason to buy into the rhetoric of people who predict the apocalypse or say disaster is inevitable."
Durigan was responding to a question about analysts' forecasts of a possible Brazilian recession in 2027. On Saturday, during the PL convention that formally launched Flávio Bolsonaro's presidential campaign, Milei said that "Brazil is heading toward a debt crisis because Lula failed to carry out the fiscal adjustment the situation required," and also criticized Supreme Federal Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
Durigan rejected claims that the government is overspending, pointing to an improvement in Brazil's public finances following the R$230 billion deficit recorded in 2023. He acknowledged, however, that interest rates and the federal government's debt remain high, arguing that mandatory spending should be reduced and the state modernized.
