A Legislative Chamber of the Federal District approvedon Tuesday night (9), the bill (PL) that authorizes the district government (GDF) to take out a loan of R$6.6 billion with the Credit Guarantee Fund (FGC).
The billion dollar amount will be used to cover part of the loss that Banco de Brasília (BRB) suffered due to business done with Banco Master, owned by banker Daniel Vorcaro, between 2024 and 2025.
Authored by the Executive Branch, PL nº 2363/2026 establishes the measures that the GDF states that they are necessary to reestablish and strengthen the economic and financial conditions of BRB.
Approved on an urgent basis, by 11 votes in favornine opposed, one abstention and three absencesthe project ratifies the terms of the agreement that the GDF and BRB signed with the Union and the Central Bank.
Even before the Legislative Chamber approved the agreement, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) had already approved it. THE which has generated criticism from politicians and analysts, who point out the lack of transparency in the BRB rescue processwhich to date has not released its financial statement for 2025 – which should have been presented by March 31, under penalty of daily fines.
“Until now, we don’t know the real size of BRB’s hole and how much they stole from the bank”, commented, yesterday morning, the president of the Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee (CAE), senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL)during a public hearing to hear from the president of BRB about the current situation of the institution.
“I don’t understand how the STF approves a plan without the BRB publishing the 2025 balance sheet. How do you create a plan like that? How is it approved?”, added Calheiros.
In the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District, opposition and independent district deputies also criticized the content of the PLclaiming that it presents several flaws, is not transparent regarding the details of the operation, such as interest rate, deadlines and tax impactl. Government parliamentarians defended the need and urgency of the measure as a way of preserving the BRB.
Guarantees
The text of the approved PL establishes the counter-guarantees that the GDF offers to obtain the R$6.6 billion loan and the measures that will have to be implemented to guarantee the necessary conditions for paying the debt within the contracted period.
The guarantees will be linked to the use of resources that the GDF receives from the State Participation (FPE) and Municipal Participation (FPM) funds, through which the GDF receives part of the resources it uses to pay its expenses.
The GDF is also committed to implementing legal measures to control public expenseswhich, in practice, may prevent it from holding new public competitions and granting salary adjustments to public servants, among other fiscal adjustment actions.
Furthermore, according to the STF, any resources that the Federal District receives through court or through agreements related to losses suffered by BRB must be primarily allocated to paying the loan.
Entities that represent other categories of district employees, such as the Teachers’ Union (Sinpro), point out that paying the loan will force the GDF to cut expenses, taking resources away from education, health and public safety, weakening the provision of public servicesmaking labor relations precarious and subjecting workers to a severe fiscal squeeze for the next few years.
“Sinpro is not, never has been and never will be against BRB. We want a strong, public bank committed to the development of our region. […] What we are fighting is this harmful agreement that hands over control and the essence of the bank to private interests, weakens public service and precarious working relationships”, declared the director of Sinpro, Márcia Gilda, during a meeting of the Education and Culture Commission of the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District, on the eve (8) of the vote on the PL.
Estimated Loss
According to the president of BRB, Nelson Antônio de Souza, the “possible losses” of the state bank controlled by the GDF total R$8.8 billion. The value was calculated after an audit discovered that, of the R$30 billion in bonds purchased from Master, at least R$2.6 billion are unbacked, that is, there is no real guarantee that BRB will be reimbursed. And another R$6.2 billion could also be lost.
To cover the estimated shortfall, in addition to resorting to the FGC – a private entity maintained with mandatory contributions from public and private banks -, the GDF and BRB will resort to the securitization of the active debt of the Federal Districtl, “selling”, with discounts, tax credits due to expire in order to anticipate the receipt of at least R$ 2.2 billion in revenue.
According to Souza, only in the first of the three stages planned for the structured financial operation with the participation of the bank BTG Pactual, carried out on the 25th, BRB received R$ 1.17 billion. Amount already paid in to capitalize the state bank. The financial conditions of the securitization were not detailed.
