The central government accounts had a surplus of BRL 54.1 billion in 2022, reversing a trajectory of eight consecutive years of deficit, the National Treasury announced this Friday (27). The positive result is the first since 2023.
The data shows that the government collected more than it spent last year. The result includes the National Treasury, Social Security and Central Bank accounts.
The performance is explained by the record collection last year. Net revenue from transfers rose by R$135.6 billion compared to 2021, already discounting the effects of inflation. Expenses, in turn, also rose, in the amount of R$ 38.4 billion.
The data portrays the picture of public accounts in the last year of the management of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who had former Minister Paulo Guedes at the head of the Ministry of Economy.
Members of the previous government even projected that the surplus would be close to R$ 40 billion. The actual result shows that the estimate was exceeded.
The number is also much better than the deficit of up to R$ 170.5 billion authorized by the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) of 2022.
Without the expense of the court settlement involving Campo de Marte, which generated an accounting expense of R$ 24 billion, the surplus would have been even greater, at R$ 78 billion. The money to end the dispute with the City of São Paulo did not actually come from the National Treasury (which only extinguished the municipality’s debt to the Union), but had to be accounted for in order to comply with fiscal rules.
The increase in revenue was constantly praised by Guedes, who used revenue performance as a password to promote a series of tax cuts – which are now criticized by the administration of Finance Minister Fernando Haddad (PT).
The new team claims that the tax reduction is unsustainable, given the size of the Budget’s expenses. This year, the prospect is that accounts will once again register a deficit, that is, with expenditures greater than government revenues.
The Budget was approved with a deficit of R$ 231.5 billion, but Haddad has already said that this “absurd deficit” will not happen. This month, the economic team announced a package to try to increase some taxes and raise government revenues, so that the deficit does not exceed 1% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
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