2023 Brazil aid should be R$400, says Treasury secretary
The Special Secretary of the Treasury and Budget of the Ministry of Economy, Esteves Colnago, said this Monday (25) that the government should set the value of Aid Brazil in the 2023 Budget at R$ 400. According to the secretary, the understanding of the economic team is that the legislation does not require the payment of the additional R$ 200.
The additional amount was defined in the Benefits PEC and will be paid until December 2022.government announced this Monday that it will advance the payment of the first installment of Auxílio Brasil turbocharged in August. Furthermore, the first two installments of the truck driver allowance will be deposited on August 9.
“Today, our understanding is that the legal framework would not bring us an obligation or a need to place [o Auxílio Brasil] in the PLOA [Projeto de lei Orçamentária Anual] for 2023”, said the secretary. The Benefits PEC generates R$ 41.2 billion in exceptional expenses, that is, outside the spending ceiling, divided between social benefits. The measures are valid from August 1 to December 31, 2022
The secretary also said that the value would have to adapt to the spending ceiling, a rule that limits the growth of public expenditure to inflation and forces spending cuts. According to him, discretionary (non-mandatory) expenses are around R$120 billion to R$130 billion a year and the increase in the benefit would lead to a cut in these expenses, reducing them to R$70 billion. “It is a considerable challenge for us to be able to maintain [o auxílio em R$ 600]”, he highlighted.