Carlos Lupi says he intends to discuss points of the Pension Reform

One of the first ministers to provoke an internal discussion in the government due to difference in speeches and to be the target of an earful from Minister Rui Costa, from the Civil House, Carlos Lupi says that he can discuss some points of the Pension Reform that he considers unfavorable to the population.

The statement by the Minister of Social Security was given in an interview given to the newspaper O Globo published this Monday (6), in which he says that Rui Costa was “misinformed” and that the discussion was part of the “campaign speech of President Lula and the PT leadership.

According to Carlos Lupi, there are at least two points of the reform that need to be discussed, such as the change in the death pension rule and disability retirement, which ceased to have full value as of 2019. The change “is one of the most serious consequences of the reform”, he said.

“When the wife loses her partner, the costs do not decrease, they increase by up to 30%. It is serious because the person receives 60% of what the husband received, there is a flagrant drop in the purchasing power of the family. The reduction in the value of disability retirement is also a very serious issue. I visited all the union centrals and changing that is (a position) almost unanimous among them”, she said.

Despite the intention to review these points, Lupi recognizes that he cannot change the reform alone, and that he intends to take the discussion to the National Social Security Council – composed of “representatives of the employers’, workers’ and government’s union centers” – and other ministries , such as Finance, Planning and Civil House. “If there is a consensus, the government will send a bill to Congress”, he completes, predicting the start of the discussion for next week.

According to the minister, the reform did not help improve public accounts as initially expected, and still left “20 million Brazilians who do not contribute to Social Security, the focus was not on the inclusion of these workers”.

INSS queue will not end, says minister

On the other hand, Lupi calculates that the queue of people seeking some INSS benefit already totals 661 thousand in the Northeast alone, “50% of our queue”. “In the BPC queue [Benefício de Prestação Continuada], has 473 thousand, and sick pay, 574 thousand. That is, almost a million depends on expertise. That’s why my mutirão project”, he says.

The INSS expertise task force should start later this month in the Northeastern states, he says, with the transfer of experts from the capitals to the interior, “where there is the biggest queue”.

Lupi says that the queue increased at the beginning of the year due to the contingent that was already waiting since last year, added to the server holidays concentrated in January and February and the end of the bonus paid in December. He denied that the difficulty in proceeding with the expertise has to do with the number of civil servants working in the agency.

“Will never end. The acceptability parameter is up to 45 days of waiting. I intend to (reach) this by the end of the year with the joint effort and the payment of bonuses”, says the minister.

Payroll interest

Also during the interview with the newspaper O Globo, Carlos Lupi commented that he also intends to discuss the reduction of payroll interest for retirees and pensioners. According to him, the “fee charged is high” and that it is “unfair to the neediest area of ​​society” a rate of 1.80% to 2.14% per month.

“Except that on the card it is 3.06%. Why differentiate if it is the same beneficiary? The guarantee of one’s salary reduces the risk by almost 100%”, he questions.

Lupi also intends to discuss the payment of a permanent 13th salary for the BPC, for the elderly and disabled, but ruled out the possibility of what would be a 14th salary, “because it is a very high burden”. “We can’t do everything at the same time because otherwise the government can’t handle it,” he said.

He also stated that he intends to create a national card for elderly INSS beneficiaries, standardizing local benefits such as bus tickets, discounts at cinemas and pharmacies, etc. According to the minister, the banks will be responsible for issuing the document, starting with Caixa and Banco do Brasil where the agreement “is already ready”.