Bolsonaro announces package to release more than R$ 150 billion to workers and retirees in election year

In second place in the voting intention polls for the Planalto Palace, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) announced this Thursday (17) a broad package of measures to release more than R$ 150 billion in resources to workers and retirees in election year.

The launch is yet another attempt by the president to qualify for reelection, reduce his rejection and improve his evaluation in the dispute with former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), first placed in the polls.

The measures are part of the so-called Income and Opportunity Program and come at a time when high inflation takes away purchasing power from Brazilians and household indebtedness is high.

The initiatives include a withdrawal of up to R$1,000 to 40 million workers with a balance in their FGTS (Service Time Guarantee Fund), as anticipated by the sheet. The expectation is that this measure will result in the injection of R$ 30 billion in the economy.

The government will also anticipate the payment of the 13th of INSS (National Social Security Institute) retirees and pensioners for the months of April and May. Payments are usually made at the end of each year.

The anticipation should inject R$ 56.7 billion into the economy in the first half of the year to 30.5 million beneficiaries. Each installment represents about R$ 28 billion.

The government will also expand the scope for contracting payroll-deductible loans with benefits or salaries as a guarantee. The authorization will be extended to beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil and BPC (Benefício de Prestação Continuada), as shown by the sheet.

Today, the limit is 30% for loans and 5% for credit card expenses. The government even extended the total margin to 40% during the pandemic, but the measure expired on December 31, 2021.

Now, the proposal is to expand the total limit again to 40%, also including new audiences. The government’s expectation is that up to R$ 77 billion will be contracted in new credits.

The package also includes the launch of Simplified Digital Microcredit. The expectation is that 4.5 million entrepreneurs with annual gross revenue of up to R$ 360 thousand will benefit in the first 12 months.

To make the operations viable, the government will authorize the use of R$ 3 billion from the FGTS to acquire shares in the Microfinance Guarantee Fund, which will guarantee the operations.

“The expectation of the measure is to include popular entrepreneurs without a history of credit support in the financial system, through a program adhering to their social reality, under conditions favorable to their ability to pay”, says the Ministry of Labor and Welfare.

According to the ministry, the financing will be associated with actions of technical qualification and stimulus to the formalization of the benefited workers. The so-called Digital SIM will be carried out by Caixa and other interested financial institutions.

In the case of the release of the FGTS, this is the third time that the Bolsonaro government has authorized extraordinary withdrawals from the fund’s resources.

The first round of FGTS release under Bolsonaro was in 2019, when the injection of resources helped to support economic activity. A second round came in 2020, in the context of measures to combat the effects of Covid-19.

Before, in 2017, the Michel Temer government (MDB) allowed the withdrawal of inactive accounts – when the employment contract is terminated but the balance remains in the account, as in cases of resignation by the worker.