Falcon powers – At the helm of this year’s G20, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad speaks to Le Monde about taxing the wealthy and creating new international alliances.
“The successor”: In Brazil, that’s how many people refer to Fernando Haddad. At 61, the former mayor of Sao Paulo and left-wing candidate in the 2018 presidential election is now finance minister.
He is seen as the most serious successor to the head of state, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. As head of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting, to be held from November 18 to 19, he is making a strong case for minimum taxation of the super-rich at an international level.
Do you believe in the possibility of a G20 agreement to tax the super-rich, and what would the terms be?
This question has a significant chance of success, as it is both an emergency and a necessity for the states. It would involve taxing around 3,000 individuals on the planet, who hold some $15 trillion [€13,818.5 billion] in wealth, and who in fact pay very little tax.
Our ambition is to succeed in taxing wealth on the basis of assets. Nevertheless, we remain cautious about the appropriate mechanism to adopt and the details of such a measure, which is still under discussion at the G20.
Lemond
