The Brazilian government plans to privatize or liquidate some 100 state-run companies, reflecting the new administration's drive to reduce the size of the state, Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas said on Tuesday.

Freitas also said in a radio interview that the right-wing government of President Jair Bolsonaro, inaugurated on Jan. 1, is considering awarding licenses for private-sector firms to build and operate 5,600 kilometers of new toll roads and bid again on 4,000 kilometers of existing toll roads.

"We need to identify all the stretches of road which can be commercially run and transfer them to private sector via public-private partnerships and concessions," Freitas said.

"Obviously we are not only talking about privatizations, but also about the liquidation of companies which are inviable," Freitas said. "The plan is to free up the budget to invest in other priority areas."