Government can make adjustments to changes to BPC rules, says Haddad nº 2

The federal government may adjust the proposals to change the rules of the Continuous Payment Benefit (BPC) to make it possible to vote on the spending cut package, said this Tuesday (10) the executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Dario Durigan.

According to him, the adjustments will be small and should not have an impact on the expected resource savings.

“The concern is legitimate. We held a debate within the government, involving a series of ministries and political actors, and we reached a consensus. The BPC has a concern from the PT bench that we understand and will internalize”, explained Durigan after lunch with the Parliamentary Entrepreneurship Front (FPE).

On Monday (9), Durigan met with the PT bench in the Chamber of Deputies and listened to the party’s concerns with the project that tightens the rules for access to the BPC. Over the weekend, the PT released a text praising the taxation of the super-rich, but calling for debate within the government regarding changes to the BPC.

Also read

AGU Minister: “Today we will begin the broad process of releasing amendments”

Minister Jorge Messias said that “it is not in the cards” to appeal the decision of Minister Flávio Dino, from the STF, who denied the AGU’s request to make the rules imposed on the payment of amendments more flexible.

“(will be) Minor adjustments, which can preserve, from a conceptual point of view and the logic of the BPC, without us having a loss of fiscal impact. If, in fact, you are afraid of losing your rights (of beneficiaries), we can review it. There’s no problem,” he said.

The Executive Secretary of Finance did not discuss the points that could be reviewed, but admitted that parliamentarians from PT and other parties “were uncomfortable” with the tightening of the concept of the family that cohabits, with children who live abroad, which can lead to loss of rights . “They recognize that there is room for fraud, but at the same time (the proposal) can impact people who would actually be entitled,” he said.

In the spending cut package announced at the end of November, the government wants to increase the criteria for calculating family income and prohibit the withdrawal of income not provided for by law. The measure, in practice, can remove people’s access to the benefit for exceeding their income of a quarter of the minimum wage.

Also read

Senate Plenary Approves Three Lula Nominees for BC Boards

Earlier, the names of Nilton David, Gilneu Vivan and Izabela Correa had already been approved in a vote in the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE).

Amendments

Once again, Durigan called on Congress to vote on the package later this year. The main obstacle so far is the release of parliamentary amendments after Federal Supreme Court (STF) minister Flávio Dino rejected a request from the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) to reconsider part of the decision that toughened the release of amendments.

According to the secretary, the government should issue, this Tuesday (10), an ordinance to enable the payment of amendments. Also this Tuesday, the AGU must publish an opinion with enforceable force to guide the release of amendments by the end of the year.

“I hope so. The way we have dealt with it is always very transparent. Let’s make an agreement, there is an agreement with Congress to deal with the amendments”, declared Durigan. “We are just a matter of timing. The timing is tight. We are rushing with definitions on the same day because the decision was made yesterday (Monday).”

Before the head surgery, the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met, on Monday, with the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL)and the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG)to deal with the release of parliamentary amendments after Flávio Dino’s decision.

The government intends to release R$4.1 billion in committee amendments and R$2.3 billion in bench amendments to allow voting on the spending cut package in 2024.

The release of the amendments aims to help the government unlock the fiscal package, considered a sensitive topic in Congress. The government wants to cut R$327 billion in spending by 2030, saving R$71.9 billion in 2025 and 2026 alone.

Income Tax

Despite the delay in approving the package, Durigan reiterated that the government intends to send the bill that expands the Income Tax (IR) exemption for those earning up to R$5,000, accompanied by the creation of a rate for those earning more than R$50 thousand per month.

The secretary also said that the bill that changes the rules for military pensions will be sent to the National Congress this week. Although they were announced with the spending cut package at the end of November, the proposals have so far been stuck in the Civil House and have not been sent to Congress.

(With Agência Brasil)