Those affected by the flood in Rio Grande do Sul will be able to withdraw their balance from the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS), Caixa Econômica Federal announced this afternoon. Money can be withdrawn through the FGTS application.
The Calamity Loot is available to residents of municipalities that have declared a state of public calamity or emergency situation, duly recognized by federal government decree. Each city hall will send Caixa a declaration of the areas affected by the extreme weather event.
The money will be released to those living at the affected addresses. In a note, Caixa informed that it will send technicians to the affected regions to help city halls take measures to help the population. As soon as the money is released, the worker will be able to withdraw it through the FGTS application.
The Calamity Withdrawal is one of the possibilities for withdrawing resources from the FGTS. Regulated by Decree 5,113/2004, the modality can only be activated in exceptional cases. Normally, the FGTS can be withdrawn in case of unfair dismissals, when the worker turns 70 or in the birthday withdrawal, which offers the withdrawal of part of the balance in the month of the worker’s birthday.
Caixa also announced that payment of housing financing contracts in the affected regions may be suspended for three months. The customer must make a request to the bank to be eligible. It is also possible to incorporate installments into the outstanding balance of defaulting customers.
So far, storms in Rio Grande do Sul have left at least 37 dead and 74 missing. The rains caused damage in around one in every three municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, leaving hundreds of people stranded and thousands of homeless people.
