Haddad said he had committed with Campos Neto to unloading all paralyzed central bank credit initiatives, without giving further details.
He also cited eight proposed bills already in Congress that are "ready to be forwarded," including one that modernizes guarantees for bank credit and should be voted on shortly in the Senate.
The minister, who insisted on the importance of consumer credit as an economic activity booster, predicted the popular Pix instant payment system would become a credit instrument this year.
He also said he favored a differentiated treatment to encourage companies and guarantee new players' entry into the credit market. Still, he mentioned the high level of Brazil's benchmark Selic interest rate - currently at 13.75% - as an "obstacle." The central bank meets this week to make its policy decision.
"Obviously, we have the Selic issue, which is an obstacle for all of us. You can reduce the lending spreads, improve the guarantee system, but the Selic will always be an obstacle to a consistent reduction in interest rates and the democratization of credit," he said. Haddad stated that he will work toward a "virtuous balance" of the exchange rate and interest rates in the short term. He defended a national reindustrialization that takes climate change into account, stressing that gas could play a role in accelerating the energy transition process that is being planned, as the government has "a lot of interest" in pre-salt gas.
By calibrating state-ruin oil company Petrobras's pricing policy, ethanol would have a "natural development," he added. (Reporting by Marcela Ayres in Brasilia and Andre Romani in Sao Paulo; Editing by David Gregorio and Jonathan Oatis)
