Bolsonaro wants to adjust police officers in an election year via PEC dos Precatórios

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President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) is considering granting a salary increase to police officers, who make up part of his electorate, in the year he will seek reelection. For this, it hopes to have the space in the Budget opened by the PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) of the Precatório, which circumvents the spending ceiling.

The government is still evaluating which careers would be contemplated, but at least three would already be on the list, at the request of the chief executive: federal police, federal highway police and penal police.

The president commented in Dubai, this Monday (15), the possibility of meeting demands for servers. “Then we can answer [com a PEC dos Precatórios] the most needy, we can meet the budget issue, we even think about obviously, given the space that is left, partially serving the servers”, he said, in a press interview given during his participation in Expo 2020, an international exhibition that takes place in the emirate of Persian Gulf.

Even though it is at an early stage, aides to the president believe that the cost is below R$ 2 billion. But the impact and percentage of the readjustment depend on a decision by the president.

The calculation of palace auxiliaries and the economic team takes into account that much of the space in the Budget with the PEC of Precatório is already taken up. The proposal allows the government to spend R$91.6 billion in 2022 without having to cut other expenses.

In this way, it will be up to the president to decide how much and where he will want to draw funds in the coming year. Last week, he also announced that he intends to renew the 17-sector payroll tax for another two years.

The deadline for deciding on the readjustment of police officers depends on the progress of the proposal in Congress. And the changes to the 2022 Budget proposal must be forwarded along with other changes for deputies and senators to approve.

The Ministry of Economy has been studying for at least three months the possibility of an increase for civil servants, whose salaries have been frozen since the beginning of the government.

The fiscal impact resulting from such a measure was estimated between R$ 5 billion and R$ 15 billion at the beginning of the discussions, according to interlocutors of the economic team heard by the sheet.

From the beginning, however, the economic team expressed the existence of difficulties for a greater increase and said that the values ​​for the increase could be below R$ 5 billion.

According to reports, it was found that there would be no room for very high values. Calculations to which court assistants had access would show that a low readjustment, of around 1%, for all civil service careers, would cost around R$ 3 billion.

In their understanding, granting a readjustment far below inflation would have a more negative than positive political impact. Thus, the idea is to contemplate less numerous careers. There is still a possibility that others will also receive the readjustment under study.

The president himself would have requested priority for police careers. In recent years, they have complained about being pushed aside by Bolsonaro, unlike military careers.

In yet another nod to them, in September, the federal government launched the police housing program. Created by the Ministry of Justice, Habite Seguro had R$100 million available in 2021, covering police officers who receive up to R$7,000 per month.

Bolsonaro also authorized only public tender for the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police, this year, with three thousand vacancies.

The dribble in the spending ceiling included in the PEC dos Precatório raises the deficit in public accounts and the country’s indebtedness. Brazil has been in the red since 2014, its debt exceeds R$5.4 trillion and interest costs are paid by society as a whole.

Despite saying that the PEC will allow an increase in the values ​​of Auxílio Brasil, the text does not say where the resources should go. The opposition says the measure represents a blank check on public funds for Bolsonaro to spend. Government and allies are interested in other expenses, such as aid for truck drivers and even resources for parliamentary amendments.

In the case of civil servants, the signal is made after the government is unable to advance its proposal for administrative reform. Bolsonaro has already said that, if it is not approved this year, it will go to the president chosen in the next elections.

The president once again said that the amendment to the precatories does not represent a breach of the ceiling, as most economists claim. In the Bolonarist version, it was made to respect and discipline the spending limit.

“We had planned to pay around R$30 billion [de precatórios] next year, it went up to almost R$90 [bilhões]. This difference has to go through the roof. If you enter the roof, we go to Brazil. And we don’t want to break the roof,” he said.

Part of the president’s entourage, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, painted earlier a positive scenario for public accounts in Brazil, saying they help to maintain a robust level of growth.

He said that Brazil, this year, should reach the mark of half a trillion dollars in current trade, which is the sum of exports and imports.

All the result, he said, of changes in the government’s mentality, more oriented towards the private sector.

“The Brazilian government spent a lot and spent badly. The economy was a paradise for rentiers and a hell for entrepreneurs. The growth axis will be the private sector. This is the great transformation that we will make in Brazil,” declared Guedes.

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