Senator-elect Wellington Diaz (standing) during a federal budget meeting in Brasilia. (photo: VICTOR CORREIA/CB/DAPRESS)
Brasilia – A transition team President-elect Luiz Incio Lula da Silva (Portugal) yesterday hit the hammer on the approach to unpacking the 2023 budget, reaffirming a political option: drafting a constitutional amendment proposal (CAI) that would exclude areas of the spending ceiling strategy.
The deadline for approval, however, is short and the measure must be approved by December 15 so as not to jeopardize Auxlio Brasil payments and other campaign promises in the social sphere.
The text does not yet have a date for sending to Congress. “President Lula’s decision was taken along a political path,” said Sen. Randolph Rodriguez (Rede-AP), who served as PT’s campaign coordinator. “I do not want to believe that the Congress, which temporarily provided 600 reais before the elections, will now not provide this benefit on a permanent basis,” he added.
Another option could be a temporary measure to open an emergency loan to pay benefits. However, MP, the prerogative of the President of the Republic and Lula, will have to wait until January 1 to give a pen, which will reduce this month’s payment to 405 reais, since the sheet will be processed in December. There is still a legal path, based on a 2021 Federal Supreme Court (STF) decision, that would allow cost savings without the need for a PEC or MP. However, this will only apply to Auxlio Brasil and not other areas that Lula targets.
Yesterday, Randolph took part in a meeting with mayors, parliamentarians and municipal authorities to discuss amendments for 2023. On his side were Senator-elect Wellington Diaz (PT-PI), who was put in charge of transitional budget adjustments, and Oramento’s general rapporteur, Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI). Among those present, the municipalities of Amap are most represented. The meeting took place on the mezzanine floor of the B-Hotel, in the central part of Brasilia.
It is estimated that the PEC will remove about 170 billion reais from the spending ceiling in strategic areas, called the “existential minimum”. Of this amount, BRL 70 billion is the amount needed to keep Auxlio Brasil at BRL 600 next year plus an additional BRL 150 for each child under 6 years of age. This amount was not included in the annual eloquence (Ploa) bill sent by Jair Bolsonaro’s government to Congress, despite promises made during the campaign.
According to Wellington Diaz, next year’s budget will have two axes, the first of which will be social, “that is, what is needed to ensure that this social safety net is not short of money,” he said. The other is the resumption of investment in the country. “Every time Brazil increases public investment, even at a low level, it helps boost development,” he added.
Good will
As for the approval of the PEC in Congress, which will need to be issued urgently, Diaz believes that there will not be much resistance to the project. “What we see in leaders and party leaders needs to be approved,” he said. “From a fiscal point of view, the change is very small,” he added, recalling the PECs dos Precatrios and PECs Kamikaze, approved in the current administration, which also passed the ceiling.
Randolph also said that he had already met with Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), who in turn spoke with Chamber President Arthur Lira (PP-AL). Both are set to urgently process the budget proposal.
