The use of fiscal instruments by the federal government in the post-Fiscal Responsibility Law (2001-2022)

ABSTRACT

The article characterizes how the federal government has used fiscal instruments after twenty-two years of the enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Law in Brazil. The study is descriptive and predominantly qualitative, based on Rawls’s perspective and adopting bibliographical and documental analysis. The study examined closed data from 2001 to 2021 and considers trends for 2022, contemplating the allocative, distributive, and stabilizing functions of Brazilian fiscal policy. The analysis consists of an eminently theoretical and reflective descriptive approach, in interaction with data collection. It was observed that the legal requirements for fiscal expenditures cannot be considered an element hindering the governments’ investment in social issues when following the principles expressed in the "contract" agreed upon in the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution. Moreover, the study reveals elements indicating the importance of Rawls’s principle of reducing inequalities in the Brazilian context.

Keywords:
fiscal policy; fiscal responsibility; social responsibility; John Rawls; fairness