Commission approves Desenrola project, which also creates limit for card revolving

The text of the provisional measure that created the Desenrola Brasil program was approved by the Senate Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) this Thursday (28) and should be voted on in the plenary next Monday (2). The senators gave in to pressure from the government to pass the project, which expires on Tuesday (3) and would compromise efforts to revive the economy.

An urgent request was also approved by senators during the CAE session. Desenrola has been in force since July and has already renegotiated R$14.3 billion in debt in 10 weeks, according to the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban).

The text approved by the Chamber of Deputies and maintained by the rapporteur, senator Rodrigo Cunha (Podemos-AL), also maintains the limit for credit card revolving interest at 100%. Financial institutions will have 90 days to define a threshold for charging and paying outstanding invoices in installments – automatically triggered 30 days after the due date.

“By alleviating debt, families can adopt healthier financial practices, promoting more conscious and responsible consumption. This benefits the economy in the long term, preventing people from becoming trapped in continuous cycles of debt,” said Cunha.

Although he initially expressed his intention to propose changes to the project, Cunha ended up not making changes to the text due to the government’s appeal to speed up the processing. The senator had meetings with ministers Fernando Haddad, of Finance, and Alexandre Padilha, of Institutional Relations, to speed up the analysis of the project.

Desenrola Brasil allows indebted Brazilians to renegotiate their debts in two debt bands. Track 1, which started this week, benefits people with a monthly income equal to or less than two minimum wages and registered in the Single Registry (CadÚnico). Debts can be paid in up to 60 months, with interest limited to 1.99% per month.

Band 2, which started in July, is aimed at people with a monthly income equal to or less than R$20,000. Debts are negotiated directly with financial institutions, with a minimum of 12 installments.

The issue of credit card revolving was one of the government’s main concerns in expanding credit to the population. Currently, the average annual interest rate is 445.7% according to the Central Bank.