BRASILIA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Advisers will recommend that Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's fiscal framework for the country be able to absorb economic shocks, one of his aides said on Wednesday.
According to economist Nelson Barbosa, a former finance and planning minister and member of the transition government's economy group, a final report will be delivered to Lula in the first half of December with suggestions for the economy.
The group should recommend a qualitative model for the new fiscal framework, not a quantitative one, Barbosa told reporters.
"More than setting a number ... it is saying what this fiscal framework should contain in terms of spending review, capacity to absorb shocks, maintaining debt sustainability in the long term," he said.
Lula campaigned against the constitutional spending cap but has not yet specified which rule he will support to replace it, nor has he indicated who will run economic policy in his administration, which starts on Jan 1.
The transition team's efforts are currently focused on approving a multibillion-dollar waiver to the spending cap to pay for welfare expenses promised in the campaign. The market received the proposal poorly, with criticism that it did not bring any commitment to controlling expenses in the long term.
Economists close to leftist Lula long oppose the ceiling, arguing that it slashes public investments and prevents the state from acting countercyclically during economic slowdowns. (Reporting by Bernardo Caram; Writing by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
