The proposed amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that will maintain the minimum amount of Bolsa Família at R$600 will cost between R$170 billion and R$175 billion in the 2023 Budget, Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) said today (9th) ). The congressman informed the amount after participating in the meeting of the president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco.
“I think that, as there was a compromise between the two candidates for the Planalto Palace, Lula and [Jair] Bolsonaro in relation to keeping Bolsa Família at R$ 600, and President Lula went further, with R$ 150 per child, and there are other issues, I think around R$ 170, R$ 175 billion the value of this PEC, if there is no amendment or something similar”, said Aziz. The parliamentarian informed that the bill includes the real increase (above inflation) for the minimum wage next year.
Earlier, Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) had stated that the PEC would have an impact of R$150 billion to R$175 billion. The parliamentarian gave the information when he arrived this afternoon at the Banco do Brasil Cultural Center (CCBB0, where the transition office for the future government works.
According to the congressman, the objective is to remove the entire social program from the federal spending ceiling. “PEC must guarantee the entire Bolsa Família”, said Costa. He, however, did not clarify whether the difference between the R$ 150 billion and the R$ 170 billion would come from the increase in the minimum wage above inflation.
If the PEC removes the entire social program from the spending cap, R$105 billion will be out of the spending cap provided for in the 2023 Budget to maintain the average value of R$405 for the current Aid Brasil. The rest will come from raising the minimum amount to R$ 600, for the payment of an additional R$ 150 for families with children up to 6 years old and for a possible real readjustment of the minimum wage.
Confirmation
The option to submit a PEC to remove the Bolsa Família from the spending ceiling and release money for health, education and public works was confirmed at the end of the morning by the PT leader in the Chamber of Deputies, Reginaldo Lopes (MG). He gave the information after following the meeting between Lula and the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira.
“The path: President Lula prefers the PEC. And now [o vice-presidente eleito] Geraldo Alckmin and [o ex-ministro Aloízio] Mercadante, and we together, are going to build a next meeting for us to present and detail the text of the PEC”, Lopes told journalists after the meeting, which took place at the official residence of the president of the Chamber. The other option would be to issue a provisional measure with extraordinary credits (outside the spending ceiling), but the alternative faces legal uncertainties.
