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During an event in Sao Paulo, Secretary Salim Mattar also listed other actions taken to improve the economy.

Salim Mattar, the Secretary of State for Privatization, Divestment and Markets of the Ministry of Economy, announced on Monday (12/8), in São Paulo, that the target of $ 20 billion in privatization actions announced by Minister Paulo Guedes in early this year is about to be hit.

"Less than 10% to reach the goal that the minister set in Davos," he said at the 20th Annual Santander Conference, referring to a speech given by Guedes in January, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum. According to the secretary, so far, US $ 19.3 billion have been made in privatization, divestments and concessions in the area of ​​infrastructure.

Mattar also listed other actions the government is taking to improve the economic environment and resume growth. Among the measures, he mentioned the opening of the gas and aviation market, the administrative reform and the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. According to him, the effects can already be seen, with the reduction of interest rates, the appreciation of the real against the dollar and the reduction in the number of homicides.

"We have rolled up our sleeves trying to put Brazil on track and transform the country into an open society, on the path to prosperity, as Minister Paulo Guedes says," he said.

The secretary took the opportunity to reinforce that his mission in the federal government is to reduce the size of a state, according to his assessment, gigantic, obese, slow, costly and bureaucratic for the taxpayer.

“We want to sell assets to reduce the size of the state and also the size of debt. Our state is rich, but the population is poor. In the past, the state used the citizen and now is the time for the state to serve the citizen, ”he said.