Fernando Haddad says he would inherit São Paulo with no cash and a budget deficit

Fernando Haddad, the Workers’ Party candidate for governor of São Paulo, says he would take over a state “with no cash and a budget deficit” if elected. Speaking at a rally in São José do Rio Preto on Saturday, Oct. 5, he said São Paulo had 22 billion reais in cash at the beginning of the current administration but now had 5 billion reais.

Haddad said the remaining 5 billion reais would cover only one week of state expenses. “What is happening in the state of São Paulo has not happened for 30 years,” he said at the rally.

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with no cash and a budget deficit

He argued that São Paulo’s accounts had remained balanced since the administration of Mário Covas, about three decades ago, and made the state’s finances one of his main criticisms of the current government led by Governor Tarcísio de Freitas. The fiscal issue was also a central point of contention between the two candidates during their first debate on Band.

Haddad additionally criticized the government’s performance in education, health and public security. He said São Paulo’s public high school system had fallen from third to 10th place in the national ranking during the current administration, and that queues in the Unified Health System had grown.

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Fate has always reserved difficult tasks for me. I have never had an easy assignment in public life.

Recalling his own record in public administration, Haddad said he had repeatedly taken on difficult assignments. He cited his time as mayor of São Paulo, saying he inherited a municipality with 74 billion reais in debt and left it with 27 billion reais. “Fate has always reserved difficult tasks for me. I have never had an easy assignment in public life,” he said.

The rally took place alongside presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senate candidates Marina Silva and Simone Tebet. Haddad also accused Banco Master and its controller, Daniel Vorcaro, of having “corrupted many people” and called the institution the product of a “mafia” in Brazil. He linked the bank’s trajectory to the administration of former president Jair Bolsonaro, saying it was born, grew and developed during the tenure of the central bank president appointed by Bolsonaro.

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corrupted many people