Government asks STF to remove FGTS correction judgment from the agenda

The AGU (General Attorney’s Office of the Union) asked the STF (Supreme Federal Court) on Wednesday (November 1, 2023) to withdraw from the agenda of the action which deals with the correction of FGTS (Service Time Guarantee Fund) accounts. The trial was scheduled for November 8th and the government wants it to be rescheduled in 30 days. Until the publication of this report, the action remained on the trial agenda for the 8th. Here is the full request (PDF – 106 kB).

According to AGU, there is an attempt to build an agreement between the government and the unions. A meeting to discuss the topic was held on Tuesday (Oct 31) with representatives from AGU, the Ministry of Labor, Caixa Econômica Federal and 6 trade unions.

“Based on the social impact (…) the public institutions present at the meeting and the trade union centrals committed to making efforts to construct a proposal for resolving the controversy under debate, which is capable of proportionately and reasonably reconciling the constitutional interests under consideration of this Federal Supreme Court”stated the AGU document.

The body justified the request to the Court by stating that the postponement would allow “the development of dialogue”.

The president of the STF, Roberto Barroso, had already postponed the trial of the case, which was originally scheduled for October 18th. The decision was made after a meeting of the CNJ (National Council of Justice) with 4 government ministers: Fernando Haddad (Farm); Jader Filho (Cities); Jorge Messias (General Attorney’s Office of the Union); It is Luiz Marinho (Work and Employment).

The Supreme Court’s justification at the time was that “the government will present new calculations in search of a solution that will be taken by the president to the other ministers of the Federal Supreme Court”. Here’s the complete of the statement (PDF – 414 kB).

IMPACT

According to a document presented on August 28 by the AGU to the Court, the estimated impact on the Budget is R$8.6 billion over 4 years, if the understanding of the STF rapporteur, Roberto Barroso, prevails. Here’s the complete (PDF – 3 MB).

The president of the Court voted for the fund’s remuneration to at least correspond to the Savings Account, which yields 6.17% per year. The government works against this change.

The current calculation method considers up to 3% plus the TR (reference rate). The issue is dear to the Lula government, which fears impact on the housing sector.

On April 27, STF minister Nunes Marques asked for a view (more time for analysis) in the trial.