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On Wednesday (30/11), the Budget Commission (CMO) of the National Congress approved the preliminary report of the Budget Bill for 2023. The text, which was proposed by the Jair Bolsonaro government, presents insufficient resources for public policies in areas such as housing, basic sanitation, education, and health, according to the proposal’s rapporteur, Senator Marcelo Castro. The budget may represent a challenge for the next government.
Insufficient Resources and Risk of “Blackout”
In the preliminary opinion on the 2023 Budget, Marcelo Castro points to insufficient resources to maintain public policies in several areas. He mentioned that the comparative analysis of the budget proposal for 2023 with that of previous years demonstrates a significant reduction in expenses in programs and actions of great relevance for the reduction of social and regional inequalities.
The rapporteur mentions in his opinion cuts in policies related to:
Housing: Text foresees R$ 82.3 million for the area, which represents a reduction of 93.2% in relation to 2022 (R$ 1.2 billion) and of 99.5% in relation to the average value of the budget proposals between 2012 and 2016
Basic sanitation: project foresees R$ 262.6 million, equivalent to 34.8% of the 2022 value (R$ 754.8 million). The average value of budget proposals from 2012 to 2015 is BRL 3 billion
Education: the rapporteur points out the reduction of more than 50% of resources destined to 14 actions in the Ministry of Education, such as support for the implementation of schools for early childhood education, Support for the Operation of Institutions of the Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education between others
Health: the opinion also points to the cut of resources for the maintenance and operation of the Popular Pharmacy program, with a reduction of approximately R$ 1.5 billion in relation to the 2022 budget; for the Promotion, Protection and Recovery of Indigenous Health, with a reduction of BRL 865.1 million, equivalent to 60% in the 2022 Budget, and for Basic Sanitation in Indigenous Villages for the Prevention of Diseases and Injuries, with a reduction of BRL 99 ,3 millions
The Next Government’s Hope
The preliminary text approved on Wednesday may still change. This is because the final report still needs to be approved by the CMO, which does not yet have a set date for that. Then, it will be taken to the plenary of Congress.
Meanwhile, President-elect Lula’s team is negotiating with Congress to approve a proposed amendment to the Constitution to increase the amount that can be spent in 2023.
The proposal is known as Transition PEC, it basically enables the payment of BRL 600 to the beneficiaries of Bolsa Família (currently Auxílio Brasil) as of January. The PEC would remove this social benefit from the rule that limits the budget growth to the amount spent in the previous year, corrected by the inflation.
The rule would not apply also to amounts that the government obtains from excess of revenue, expenses from revenues that federal universities obtain on their own, and government expenses with socio-environmental projects or related to climate change funded by donations (like the Amazon fund).
Space to Relocated Resources to Other Sectors
The transition PEC could avoid a “blackout” of services in housing, basic sanitation, education, health and other areas due to lack of public resources limited by the rule that limits expenses.
