The federal government paid R$ 907.88 million in overdue debts from states and municipalities in January, informed today (7) the National Treasury Secretariat (STN). The numbers refer to debts guaranteed by the Union and not honored by seven states and are included in the Report on Guarantees Honored by the Union in credit operations.
There were R$ 327.33 million related to default in Maranhão; R$188.03 million from Minas Gerais; R$ 120.12 million from Piauí; R$107.01 million from Rio de Janeiro; R$78.30 million from Goiás; R$60.92 million from Rio Grande do Sul and R$26.18 million from Pernambuco.
The guarantees are the assets offered by the Union – represented by the National Treasury – to cover defaults on loans and financing by states, municipalities and other entities with national banks or foreign institutions, such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank. As guarantor of the operations, the Treasury is informed by creditors that a certain portion of the contract has not been settled.
If the entity does not fulfill its obligations within the stipulated period, the Treasury compensates for defaults, but discounts the amount covered by blocking ordinary federal transfers, in addition to preventing new financing.
“In total, since 2016, the Union has paid BRL 52.60 billion in order to honor guarantees in credit operations by states and municipalities. In the same period, R$ 5.61 billion of the amounts owed were recovered through the execution of the counter-guarantees offered in the contracts. In this case, in addition to the original amount, the debtor is charged default interest, fines and other charges provided for in the loan agreements, also paid by the Union”, informed the secretariat.
The Treasury Secretariat monitors any delays in payment of contracts guaranteed by the Union, establishing deadlines for settling outstanding debts, in addition to “alert debtors to the sanctions, penalties and consequences provided for in contracts and in the relevant legislation.”
If the federative entity does not settle pending issues, such as cases of honor of endorsement or delay in payments of guaranteed credit operations, it is prevented from obtaining a guarantee from the Union for new financing contracts for up to 12 months.
There are cases, however, of blocking the execution of counter-guarantees, due to court decisions. The secretariat clarifies, however, that the value of each honored guarantee is updated daily by the Selic, the basic interest rate, from the date of the honor.
“The Union is sometimes prevented from executing counter-guarantees due to court decisions. Currently, honorable obligations of the states of Alagoas, Maranhão, Pernambuco and Piauí, in addition to the Municipality of Taubaté, in São Paulo, are in this situation”, added the secretary.
