The 2022 Budget may be unlocked at R$ 547.3 million by the end of the year. The information is contained in an extra edition of the Revenue and Expenditure Assessment Report, released today (22) by the Ministry of Economy.
At the end of November, the government contingency (blocked) BRL 5.7 billion of the Federal Budget to comply with the spending ceiling, in a decision that paralyzed public services, such as the issuing of passports, the supply of water trucks for the northeastern semi-arid region, the operation of federal universities and the payment of scientific scholarships.
At the time, the contingency total of the 2022 Budget was R$ 15.38 billion. The value, however, fell to R$ 3.339 billion after a series of resource releases and reallocations in recent days. Of this total, R$ 1.923 billion are rapporteur amendments (RP9), R$ 1.359 billion are discretionary (non-mandatory) spending by ministries and R$ 56.8 million refer to commission amendments.
A week ago, the government edited a provisional measure with extraordinary credit (outside the spending ceiling) of R$ 7.564 billion, to prevent a collapse in the payment of the Benefit of Continued Provision (BPC), unemployment insurance and legal expenses. The MP was possible after the government reached an agreement with the Federal Court of Auditors (TCU). In an adjusted vote, the body responded to the request of the Civil House and recognized the urgency of extraordinary credit.
The economic team also reallocated R$4.418 billion in discretionary (non-mandatory) expenses to mandatory and made technical adjustments that resulted in the release of another R$605.5 million.
With the measures, R$ 2.792 billion remained above the federal spending ceiling. As the remaining blocked balance is at R$ 3.339 billion, the remaining R$ 547.3 million can be released by the end of the year.
Despite the fiscal space being available, the Ministry of Economy reported that a decision has not yet been made as to whether the money will in fact be de-restricted. According to the folder, this will depend on the demands of the bodies and the capacity of the ministries to be able to execute the commitments (expense authorizations) in the last week of the year.
Estimates
The report released today raised from 2.7% to 3.1% the growth projection of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, sum of goods and services produced) for 2022, in the report released this Thursday. The economic team updated the estimate for gross public debt at the end of this year to 73.7% of GDP. In the document released in November, the projection was 74.3% of GDP.
The inflation estimate by the National Consumer Price Index (INPC), used to readjust the minimum wage and Social Security benefits, fell from 6% to 5.8%. The estimate for the General Price Index – Internal Availability (IGP-DI) retreated from 6.1% to 5.3%. For the Extended National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), the projection was maintained at 5.8%.
