FECOMERCIOSP – Union in defense of life
Humanity is at a crossroads: how to preserve economic activity in the face of the need to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, which threatens to collapse health services?Humanity is at a crossroads: how to preserve economic activity in face of the need to reduce the spread of the new coronavirus, which threatens to collapse health services?
There is no more to diagnose about the economic effects of this pandemic. The focus should be on making the channels work through which a lot of money must flow for the adaptation of the health system and for the maintenance of companies and jobs.
FecomercioSP’s expectation was that Brazilian retail sales would increase 2.4% in 2020, in the most conservative projection. This forecast, of course, is already revised: in the most optimistic of scenarios, revenues will fall by 3.6% this year, a loss of at least BRL 115 billion – a figure that can reach BRL 138 billion, corresponding to revenues of 25 days of all retail in Brazil.
If science has not found ways to defeat the new coronavirus, the task of containing it must be shared between governments and society
There is much more to do than the extension of taxes and contributions under the scope of Simples Nacional, the injection of BRL 57 billion by the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) and the extension of corporate debts. Decisions like these must also occur at the state and municipal levels.
If science has not found ways to defeat the new coronavirus, the task of containing it must be shared between governments and society. The difficulties need to be assimilated by everyone, which makes the dialogue between companies and workers especially relevant.
In short, fiscal incentives and social protection packages are important, but they are not enough. Union, conscience and solidarity are the determining factors in the defense of life.
Source: Eletrolar News Magazine ed. 136
