Decree with detail of the impact of freezing of R $ 33.1 billion in the 2025 budget was published on the night of this Friday
The Ministries of Health and Cities were the most impacted by the 2025 budget freezing. Together, the two folders total R $ 10.7 billion from the total R $ 31.3 billion blocked or contingency. The distribution of containment by body was published on Friday (30.MAI.2025) in a decree in the DOU (Official Gazette). Read A (PDF – 3 MB).
The announcement of the freezing of the budget in health is the same day as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) the program “now has specialists”, with the promise that will reduce the queues for specialized consultations. Ministries will have up to 5 business days to indicate the actions that will have the reduced funds.
The freezing reached most of the 31 ministries of the Lula administration. The most affected were:
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Ministry of Health: R $ 5.9 billion;
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Ministry of Cities: R $ 4.8 billion;
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Ministry of Defense: R $ 2.6 billion;
- Ministry of Integration and Regional Development: R $ 2.2 billion.
Understand
The president’s government (PT) had announced, on May 22, the freezing of R $ 31.3 billion in discretionary expenses. Of this total, R $ 10.6 billion will be blocked and R $ 20.7 billion will be contingent.
Although there are technical differences between blocking and contingency, both mechanisms temporarily prevent the execution of non -mandatory expenses. These resources are often intended for investments, maintenance of the public machine, scientific research and other strategic areas.
Sanctioned in April 2025, this year’s LOA (Annual Budget Law) provided for an amount of R $ 221.1 billion in discretionary expenses. Each quarter, the government updates the projections of collection and public spending and discloses the new parameters in the Bimonthly Revenue and Expenses Assessment Report.
Freezing spending can be done in two ways:
- Contingency – when the previously planned revenues are below the current forecast of the economic team;
- BLOCK – when expenses are above the previously estimated.
Because of the strike of the IRS civil servants, the tax authorities did not disclose any monthly reports with data from the collection. Part of the information can be seen in the National Treasury report, which says the Lula government had a primary surplus of R $ 55.95 billion in the first quarter of 2025, the best result for the period since 2022.
The federal government aims to zero deficit fiscal target, as it was in 2024. The tolerance margin for 2025 is up to R $ 30.9 billion of negative balance, which corresponds to 0.25% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
In 2024, public accounts had a primary deficit of R $ 11.0 billion, within the allowed range of the fiscal target. The spending on the reconstruction of Rio Grande do Sul and the burning in the country did not enter the calculation, which would raise the negative balance to $ 44.0 billion. The limit of the previous year was a deficit of up to R $ 28.8 billion.
