Government prepares line of credit for families in Rio Grande do Sul

Families affected by the floods in Rio Grande do Sul will be able to receive a special line of credit for rebuilding homes, said Finance Minister Fernando Haddad on Monday night (6). The credit will be added to the transfer of funds to the Rio Grande do Sul government and the city halls of the locations affected by the extreme weather event.

According to Haddad, the government is still defining the details and the possibility for official banks to operate the credit line. This Tuesday (7), Haddad will meet with the president of Banco do Brasil, Tarciana Medeiros. The minister confirmed that the extraordinary credit line will be one of the topics.

“A specific line of credit is needed to rebuild people’s homes. Most do not have insurance coverage. So, this will all have to be seen”, said the minister.

The credit line will be added to other measures aimed at families affected by the tragedy, such as the postponement, for three months, of the payment of federal taxes by individuals and companies, including Income Tax, in the 336 municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul in a state of public calamity. . For micro and small companies and individual microentrepreneurs, payment was postponed by one month.

According to Haddad, the measures must be finalized and presented to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva today. The minister informed that he will send some scenarios for the president to decide.

“Today the first measure came out, which was the calamity decree, which opens up to ministries the possibility of providing emergency resources [a] schools, hospitals, health centers. There’s no way to wait. So, this will all need its own dynamic. But we are working on other important fronts and we want to complete this work as quickly as possible. Everything goes well, I will submit it to the president tomorrow [nesta terça] some scenarios”, stated Haddad upon leaving the Ministry of Finance.

Yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies approved the draft legislative decree to recognize a state of public calamity in part of the national territory, as a result of the climate tragedy in Rio Grande do Sul. The proposal speeds up the transfer of resources to the state.

Debt

Regarding the states’ debt with the Union, Haddad said that the government intends to give specific and “emergency” treatment to Rio Grande do Sul. Governor Eduardo Leite asks for the suspension of debt installments with the federal government to release around R $3.5 billion from state cash.

According to the minister, although other states in the South and Southeast want to renegotiate their debts with the Union, Rio Grande do Sul will receive priority at the moment. “We have to isolate the biggest problem to tackle it properly. It is a totally atypical case, it needs specific treatment”, declared Haddad.

Another possibility of aid to the state is the release of resources through extraordinary credits, used in urgent and unforeseen situations and which are outside the spending limit of the new fiscal framework. Haddad informed that the federal government still does not have a calculation of the amount needed to help with the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul.

“Without the water receding, it is very difficult to estimate the cost. We have to wait for the next few days to assess the damage and [decidir] How are we going to face this problem? But the willingness of Congress and the state and federal executives is to face the problem”, stated Haddad.

Transparency

The minister promised centralization and transparency in the transfer of resources. “The important thing is this: it will be very centralized, so that we don’t lose governance. It is very focused on this calamity, it is very focused on the affected municipalities, and there will be a procedure in which everything has to be approved at the level of the Executive and the Legislative. To maintain full transparency about the fate of this resource,” he added.

Haddad highlighted that the difference between the extreme weather event in Rio Grande do Sul is the scale of the tragedy. The minister was in the delegation of President Lula and the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, who flew over the metropolitan region of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul on Sunday (5).

“I’ve seen this happen in several locations when I was Minister of Education, visiting places hit by waterspouts, tropical rains, intense things that affected schools, hospitals, health centers. Now, I’ve never seen anything in this territorial extension. Something taking over 200, 300 municipalities, that really is the most shocking thing. And you see people still isolated, families who have lost [bens]. It’s difficult, a very moving situation”, recalled the minister.