As empresas estatais e o programa de privatização do governo Collor

Abstract

This article organizes a set of data related to the role of state owned enterprises (SOEs) in the Brazilian economy and uses it to discuss some of the most important issues of the country's ongoing privatization program. The paper's main objective is to give some quantitative insights to the so far largely qualitative analysis of the impacts of privatization on macro and microeconomic adjustment. After a brief analysis of the contribution of SOEs to public sector borrowing requirements (PSBR) and of their relative importance in the different sectors of the economy, the article examines president Collor's National Destatization Program. The analysis emphasises the discussions about the impact of privatization on public finances, the rules governing SOEs' sale price determination, the use of the so-called "funny money" ("moedas podres") and the issue of internal and external consistency. The paper presents a positive balance of the program as a whole, even arguing that its benefits have been substantially reduced by the failure of the government's first stabilization program and will therefore be small compared to the magnitude of the necessary adjustments. In particular, the main gains from privatization will not be associated to the reduction of the public deficit, which is - wrongly in our opinion - sometimes considered the most favourable result of privatization.