Purchase of agricultural machinery and vehicles leads the release of amendments in 2025

The release of public money for the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment and mechanical traction vehicles, in addition to transfers to welfare, cultural and educational institutions, was the largest of the parliamentary amendments in the 2025 Budget, according to the expenses described in the federal government system.

The Executive Branch committed, by decision of deputies and senators, R$ 1.04 billion to the purchase of agricultural and road machinery and equipment. Another R$898.75 million was reserved for the purchase of mechanically driven vehicles. Congressmen also allocated R$1.24 billion to private welfare, cultural and educational institutions, but there is no clear division regarding this distribution.

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The commitment of these resources does not mean the actual payment of these expenses. Only R$360 million was paid to the mentioned institutions. The payment for agricultural machinery and equipment was R$38.1 million, and for mechanical traction vehicles, R$17 million.

These expenses help to clarify the preferences of deputies and senators, who favor current expenses and short-term investments to the detriment of long-term investments.

Experts consulted by Political Broadcast (Grupo Estado’s real-time news system) assess that the prevalence of these expenses highlights an electoral strategy that seeks to present short-term solutions to municipalities. As a result, investments that do not offer immediate electoral returns end up taking a backseat.

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THE Political Broadcast used data from the Integrated Planning and Budget System (Siop) to analyze how resources from parliamentary amendments were applied in 2025.

The commitments described by the government total around R$7.25 billion, ranging from the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment to the maintenance of real estate and energy machinery and equipment. Of this total, only R$1.56 billion was actually paid last year. The remainder was reserved for payment in the coming years.

The largest application of resources was through direct transfers to the States, the Federal District and municipalities. Most of the transfers were made through fund-to-fund transfers, a modality in which the government transfers money from a federal fund, such as the National Health Fund (FNS), to a state or municipal fund. R$21.97 billion were sent to municipalities in this way and R$3.4 billion to States.

City halls and state governments received a few more billions in direct transfers to the public treasury: R$11.68 billion were transferred to municipalities and R$2.48 billion to the States.

Fund-to-fund transfers are made by the National Health Fund, the National Social Assistance Fund, the Worker Support Fund, the National Fund for Children and Adolescents and the National Fund for the Elderly. The majority, however, are for the FNS. Of the total of R$26 billion in fund-to-fund transfers, R$25.33 billion were through the fund managed by the Ministry of Health.

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Electoral strategy

According to Marco Antônio Carvalho Teixeira, professor of Political Science at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), applications for agricultural machinery and equipment, in addition to transfers to institutions of a welfare, cultural and educational nature, show an electoral strategy by parliamentarians, where short-term solutions for municipalities are privileged in an attempt to consolidate an electorate for the next elections.

“You deliver this directly to the voter, to the client, to the citizen, to the organization, call it what you want. Obviously, this further consolidates the electoral loyalty of those who are receiving to those who donate, and this leaves the donor in the position of being someone indispensable to remain in the political system, because it will be the parliamentarian who will continue to drain the resources that people and organizations want”, he said.

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In the analysis of Leandro Consentino, political scientist and professor at Insper, the preference for quick solutions generates the perpetuation of challenges that municipalities face, whose overcoming depends on long-term investments. “It is an immediate electoral interest and not a more planned thought based on technical criteria for this expenditure,” he said.

“This affects the reality of municipalities at a time when municipalities sometimes have much greater needs, which require studies and planning projects. Attacking these problems simply with parliamentary amendments without technical criteria for this public expenditure can condemn municipalities to perpetuate these problems, these demands, these shortcomings”, stated Consentino.