High Selic brings back to TR; understand how it affects savings, FGTS and financing

The increase in the economy’s basic interest rate, the Selic, brings back the increase in the TR (Referential Rate), which is used in the correction of the savings account, of the worker’s money in the FGTS (Guarantee Fund for Employees) and home-ownership financing contracts.

This Wednesday (8), the Copom (Monetary Policy Committee), of the Central Bank, raised the Selic to 9.25% per year. According to economists, when the Selic rate exceeds 8.5%, there is a direct impact on the TR, which was zero and goes up again.

The high TR increases the amount that savers will receive for the money invested, but also increases the share of real estate financing for those who have a contract linked to the rate.

According to economist and professor José Dutra Vieira Sobrinho, the TR will go up starting this Thursday (9), as it is also linked to the Selic rate. Since September 2017, when the country’s basic interest rates began to fall, the Reference Rate has been zeroed

The new TR, however, will only be known after calculation by the Central Bank.

“It is not possible to know the exact income of the passbook without the new TR, which is only calculated and published by the Central Bank”, he says.

The Reference Rate is defined daily by the BC based on the interest rates of the National Treasury Bills. The basis for measuring the rate is the movement of interest on these papers in the last five days of the month, in the 30 largest banks in the country. They vary according to Selic and, therefore, directly impact the TR.

“When the Selic was at 9.25% per year, in July 2017, for example, the TR that month was 0.0623%. It’s little, but it influences savings and housing financing”, explains Miguel José Ribeiro de Oliveira , executive director of Anefac (National Association of Finance, Administration and Accounting Executives).

The practical impact of the rate on FGTS, savings and home ownership, however, will only be known in January, according to Oliveira. “It will trigger the TR trigger and we will have an increase, but only from next month, when the monthly rate comes out.”

Savings

With the change, savings deposits, both in the passbook prior to May 4, 2012, and in amounts invested as of May 4, 2012, now have the same yield, 0.5% per month plus TR.

The correction of savings is monthly and the new income, therefore, will only be noticed by savers in a month. RT has daily variation.

Until then, under the rule, which came into effect in the government of Dilma Rousseff (PT), when the Selic rate is up to 8.5%, savings yield the equivalent of 70% of the basic rate plus the TR (which, however, is zero when the Selic is low).

Impact on FGTS

The FGTS value also changes because the Guarantee Fund’s profitability is calculated at 3% per year plus TR. As the rate will now be greater than zero, the fund’s yield will increase.

The trend is also to increase the fund’s profit, which has been shared with the workers.

This year, workers with a balance in the FGTS account on December 31, 2020 received, in July, a percentage of the profit obtained by the fund last year, calculated at R$ 8.5 billion.

Home Ownership Contracts

Not all real estate financing is linked to TR. The rate is applied to real estate contracts that are part of the Caixa Econômica Federal’s SFH (Housing Financial System), in which the amounts are adjusted by fixed interest plus TR.

With the return of TR, the installments of these contracts will be readjusted.

Since last year, there are other forms of financing the home, with interest adjusted for inflation, for example.