Lula: income distribution, social inclusion, economic growth, education, democratic civility, all 3rd term hallmarks

“The mark I will once again leave is improving income distribution and social inclusion. The mark of democratic civility, economic growth, wage growth, educational growth and citizenship.” This is how President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva summarized — in an interview with journalists from Bahia on Thursday, February 6 — the legacy he hopes to leave at the end of his third term at Planalto Palace. 

The mark I will once again leave is improving income distribution and social inclusion. The mark of democratic civility, economic growth, wage growth, educational growth and citizenship”

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva,President of the Republic

To reach this goal, the President listed a series of factors that have deserved the attention of the Federal Government since January 2023. “Never before in the history of Brazil have there been so many social inclusion policies as now. They are for indigenous peoples, quilombola peoples, women, small-scale farmers on properties ranging from 0 to 100 hectares. We are taking great care of them,” he said, also pointing out the record credit for agribusiness and policies to encourage the industrial sector. “It had been a long time since we had GDP growth in the industrial sector. Several economic activities are growing.”

EDUCATION — Another aspect highlighted by the President was education. Lula said that the government is working to meet the goal of children being literate at the right age, in a partnership established with all states and municipalities. He reinforced the commitment to building another 100 federal institutes and expanding investments in universities, rehabilitating existing ones and building more university hospitals.

PÉ-DE-MEIA AND CELL PHONES — The president also mentioned Pé-de-Meia, a program that helps ensure students remain in high school, and mentioned the importance of sanctioning Bill No. 4,932/2024, in January to restrict students’ use of cell phones  during class, both in public and private basic education institutions. “We approved the ban on cell phones in schools because we want to respect young people, children, teachers and humanism. Either I take care of humanism now or the algorithms will win — and I am a humanist, I want to be supportive, I want to be a person who is passionate about things. The algorithm does not have that," said the President.

MORE CREDIT — Lula referred to a meeting he had on Wednesday (February 5) with presidents of public banks to emphasize that credit is increasing in Brazil and anticipated that there will be new announcements for this sector. "There has never been so much investment from BNDES [the Brazilian Development Bank, or Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social], Banco do Brasil, Caixa Econômica, BNB [Banco do Nordeste] and Basa [Banco da Amazônia]. Credit is growing and more measures will be announced in the coming days," he said.

MICRO AND MACROECONOMICS — The President also said that more attention must be paid to the microeconomy — a fundamental factor in driving the country's economic structure. "With money circulating, trade increases, services increase, wages increase, purchasing power increases and the GDP increases. Instead of discussing macroeconomics, we have to discuss microeconomics. It is what makes things happen. A citizen who borrows a billion dollars does not always invest it the following year. Now, a citizen who borrows 10 thousand will invest it. A citizen who earns a thousand reais will go to the supermarket to buy what to eat — and this is what moves the economy. This is what we are doing. Without forgetting that we also have to finance the big ones so that the macroeconomy grows,” highlighted Lula