Budget 2025: Lula sanctions law with two vetoes and expected surplus of R $ 14 billion

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sanctioned this Thursday, 10, with two vetoes, the Annual Budget Law (LOA) of 2025. The law was published in extra edition of the Federal Official Gazette (DOU).

The first veto, of R $ 40.2 million to the Ministry of Transport, was about changes made by Congress that put money in works with specific places, using discretionary expenses of the Executive Power. In justification, the government points out that, “despite the legislator’s good intention, the inclusion of these programs contradicts the public interest.”

The president also vetoed R $ 2.97 billion in financial expenses of the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development (FNDCT), which would be intended for return financing. The justification is that the legislation states that loans made with FNDCT resources cannot exceed 50% of the total provided for in the fund’s annual budget.

“However, during the processing of the annual budget bill for 2025, due to the application of union revenue detachment, the National Congress promoted the reduction of FNDCT primary expenses, but did not perform the same operation with financial expenses, leading them to exceed 50% (fifty percent) of the total global FNDCT, in disagreement with the provisions of Law 11.540, of 12, of 12 of November 2007, thus contrary to the public interest ”, justified the executive.

LOA was approved by Congress on March 20, months late, as the budget, regimentally, needs to be approved by the end of the year before its execution. The process of negotiation of the text was affected by measures to contain spending approved in the final stretch of 2024 and suspension – and subsequent resumption – of parliamentary amendments by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

The proposal sanctioned today estimates a primary surplus of R $ 14.5 billion, with payments of precatory taken from the annual spending limit. Also sanctioned were the amount of R $ 50.4 billion in parliamentary amendments, R $ 170.7 billion in discretionary expenses of the executive and R $ 57.6 billion for the Growth Acceleration Program – Novo PAC.