Government announces R$50.9 billion in measures for Rio Grande do Sul

The federal government announced, this Thursday (9), a set of measures that should inject almost R$50.945 billion into the economy of Rio Grande do Sul, a state that is facing the greatest tragedy in its history, after being hit by rains and floods. in the last days. The anticipation of benefits, the structuring of logistics and infrastructure projects and, mainly, the provision of resources to leverage and subsidize credit are among the actions.

In a presentation at Palácio do Planalto, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva explained that these are initial resources. “It doesn’t end here. I have been telling the ministers that we have to prepare ourselves because we are going to have the magnitude of the problems when the water goes down and when the rivers return to normal,” said Lula.

“Now we have to start thinking about how we are going to serve people. Because I’ve already suffered from flooding, it was 1.5 meters inside my house and when the water goes away it’s very bad. […]. You don’t have the amount of mud that remains, the amount of leeches, bacteria, dead cockroaches, it’s hell. And these people lost those assets, many people think that a television is a small thing, that it doesn’t have much importance, but for a more humble person, the television is an asset. The stove is a huge asset, the refrigerator, then, goes without saying. And a washing machine is a very important thing for women who are surviving real suffering and martyrdom with this rain”, argued the president.

Lula also guaranteed that the federal government is committed to ensuring that no bureaucracy gets in the way of the urgency of the actions that have been announced.

Audience served

According to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, the measures and resources announced today will benefit salaried workers, beneficiaries of social programs, state and municipalities, companies and rural producers.

“It is a broad set of measures, each with a specific instrument, to serve this group of actors who will have to, in the coming days, start rebuilding their lives. As soon as the water recedes, this system has to be ready to be activated at the end, so that the people of Rio Grande do Sul can receive assistance as quickly as possible,” he said. “It is a first measure that will guarantee an important flow of resources at this first moment, until we have a greater overview of the situation, which may require additional measures”, explained Haddad.

According to the minister, the primary impact of the measures is R$7.695 billion and will not affect actions and programs ordinarily carried out by the federal government in other regions of the country. “It is a resource for the benefit of the people of Rio Grande do Sul, who count on the calamity decree for its execution,” he said.

Additionally, each ministry is preparing its action plan for Rio Grande do Sul. Furthermore, next Monday (13), the Ministry of Finance should announce the result of negotiations surrounding the state’s debt with the Union. Governor Eduardo Leite asks for the suspension of debt installments with the federal government to release around R$3.5 billion from the state’s cash.

The announcements made today are in a provisional measure signed by Lula, which will be forwarded to the National Congress. During the event, Banco do Brasil, Caixa and BNDES also announced additional measures to serve the population of Rio Grande do Sul. Public banks announced the suspension of debt and FGTS payments by companies.

The presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira, and the Federal Supreme Court, Luís Roberto Barroso, were present at the announcement event at Palácio do Planalto.

Salaried workers

For salaried workers, the salary bonus will be paid in advance for this month of May. R$758 million will be allocated to 705 thousand workers with a formal contract.

There will also be the release of two additional installments of unemployment insurance for the unemployed who were already receiving it before the calamity was declared, at the end of the last installment. 140,000 unemployed formal workers will benefit and the impact will be R$495 million on public coffers.

The Federal Revenue Service is also working on prioritizing the payment of Income Tax refunds for taxpayers in Rio Grande do Sul. Payment will take place until June for up to 1.6 million people, worth R$1 billion. “It is a value that is theirs, the only thing we are doing is bringing forward the schedule to mobilize resources to activate the economy and rebuild the lives of the people affected”, said minister Fernando Haddad.

Beneficiaries of social programs

The federal government will anticipate payments for the month of May of Bolsa Família and Auxílio-Gás for 583 thousand families in Rio Grande do Sul who receive these benefits. The immediate impact will be 380 million.

State and municipalities

R$200 million will be contributed so that project structuring funds from public banks can support and finance infrastructure reconstruction projects in the state and affected municipalities.

“We are talking about bridges, viaducts, roads, a set of assets, mainly logistical, that will require a project office so that we can quickly contract and work. Many times, you will not build the same bridge in the same place, it may be a different bridge or moving that equipment to another location. This will require us to be agile in formatting projects that can be contracted on an urgent basis,” he said.

“It’s one thing to contract works on an emergency basis, it’s another thing to not have the project and contract the work, you can’t even budget for an emergency contract”, he explained.

The federal government will also set up a task force to accelerate credit analysis with Union endorsement for municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul. There are 14 municipalities that have ongoing credit operations worth R$ 1.8 billion, of which R R$1.5 billion in external operations and R$300 million in internal operations.

Brasília (DF) 04/09/2024 – Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (c) during the announcement of new aid and support measures for Rio Grande do Sul Photo: José Cruz/Agência Brasil

Companies

For companies, there will be an investment of R$4.5 billion in the Operations Guarantee Fund (FGO) for credit guarantees under the National Support Program for Micro and Small Businesses (Pronampe). According to Haddad, the resources should leverage R$30 billion in loans to businesspeople.

Furthermore, also within the scope of Pronampe, the government will allocate R$1 billion for interest subsidies, up to the maximum amount of credit granted subject to discount of R$2.5 billion. In other words, of the potential R$30 billion in credit, R$2.5 billion will be granted with an interest discount.

“Often, you give a credit guarantee, but even giving the guarantee, there is an interest reduction limit because we have a high Selic, the spread [diferença entre taxa de captação de dinheiro, pelo banco, e a cobrada dos clientes], and the bank, even if it wants to, cannot reduce it to levels that the borrower can pay, especially in a situation like this. So, we have to create lines of credit with zero interest, in some cases there will be no other alternative”, said Minister Haddad.

According to him, Pronampe worked during the covid-19 pandemic and was recently corrected to allow debt renegotiation. “Now, with this measure, we will reactivate the program on the basis established by your government [do presidente Lula]. Any incident that happens in a year or two years with the borrower, he will know that the banking system will be authorized to reschedule these payments, if necessary”, he explained.

The government will also contribute R$500 million to the BNDES Investment Guarantee Fund (FGI), to guarantee credit leverage in the Emergency Credit Access Program. The measure should leverage R$5 billion in credit concessions for individual microentrepreneurs, micro, small and medium-sized companies.

The payment deadlines for federal and Simples Nacional taxes will also be extended for at least three months. The measure will have an impact of R$4.8 billion and should benefit 203 thousand companies.

Farmers

For companies and also for rural producers, there will be no need to present the Debt Clearance Certificate to facilitate access to credit, contracts and renegotiations in public financial institutions. The measure will be valid for six months, from May to November.

Finally, rural producers will also have R$1 billion for interest subsidies to Pronaf and Pronamp, up to the global credit limit of R$4 billion subject to interest discount. “This guarantees a very important input of resources into the field to recover agricultural production capacity”, said Minister Haddad.