The Minister of Finance considered that there will be a limit on the use of the guarantee fund during the new program
The new Desenrola program, which has been called Unwind 2.0it must be announced this week by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and go allow the use of the Service Time Guarantee Fund (FGTS) to renegotiate debts. The information was confirmed this Monday (27) by the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, in São Paulo, after participating in meetings with bankers.
Durigan added, however, that there will be a limit on the use of FGTS in Desenrola. “The limitation that there will be to guarantee the fund itself is a percentage of the withdrawal. So, it is a limited withdrawal within the program, linked to the payment of the program’s debts, but not necessarily greater than the debt”, he explained.
In the morning, the minister met in the capital of São Paulo with bankers and the president of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban)Isaac Sidney. The presidents of banks BTG Pactual, Itaú Unibanco, Santander, Bradesco and Nubank were present. In the afternoon, he also met with representatives from Citibank.
“Today we are concluding conversations with financial institutions to deliver to the president, this week, the debt renegotiation program for Brazilian families. I am returning to Brasília tomorrow and will speak to the president for the announcement to be made, possibly, this week”, he said.
According to the minister, the new Desenrola program aims to reduce default levels in the countryin a scenario where interest rates are still high, but expected to fall in the coming months. “The program has the general line of demanding reductions in a debt that Brazilian families suffer most, such as credit cards, direct consumer credit and special checks”, he explained.
He also said that Desenrola will have a contribution from the Operations Guarantee Fund (FGO). “This is foreseen in the measures that we will put in place. It will be enough for us to guarantee the renegotiation of whoever wants to do this renegotiation”, he declared.
Although he did not provide further details about the new program, the minister said expect discounts to reach up to 90%.
“What we are demanding, with the banks in return, is that there be a much lower interest rate than that practiced in these three segments (CDC, credit card and special check), which are expensive credits that people have to take out in Brazil. We are talking about interest rates that vary between 6% and 10% per month. So, a debt of R$10,000, for example, in the following month, will possibly be a debt of R$11,000. A Brazilian family that receives an average salary will probably not get out of this cycle of updating its debt. So, with a broad discount, we will reach discounts of up to 90% in this program”, he estimated.
He highlighted, however, that the program will not be a “periodic Refis” and will only occur as an exceptional measure.
“Both in the Desenrola that took place in 2023 and now, these are specific measures and people should not count on the recurrence of this type of measure. We are experiencing an exceptional situation, families have a problem, we are witnessing a war and seeing some impacts that are often beyond our control. But it is important to say that this is not a recurring Refis”, he highlighted.
Regarding the number of beneficiaries, the minister stated that the government’s expectation is that millions of people could be affected by the new measure. In the first Desenrola Brasil program, around 15 million people benefited from the negotiation of R$53.2 billion in debt.
