President Lula and the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad.| Photo: Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil

The federal government changed a data in the 2023 Budget to artificially reduce the forecast of expenses with the National Social Security Institute (INSS). The information was disclosed by Folha de São Paulo this Tuesday (11).

According to the newspaper, the change was made to avoid, at the last minute, greater pressure on expenses right at the beginning of the new mandate. The document obtained by Folha showed that the Secretariat for Economic Policy, linked to the Ministry of Finance, reduced the value of the minimum wage in the grid of parameters days after having prepared a first version with a higher floor, of R$ 1,320 – amount promised by Lula from the 1st of May.

“The revision of the grid to keep the minimum wage at the current level allowed for a reduction of BRL 7.7 billion in expenditure on social security benefits in relation to what was foreseen in the Budget, which reduced the projected deficit for the year and removed the risk of needing block other expenses”, says the newspaper.

The change in values ​​was the subject of an alert by the Directorate of the General Social Security Regime (RGPS), linked to the Ministry of Social Security, responsible for calculating expenses with INSS retirements and pensions, among other expenses.

In response to Folha, the Ministry of Finance said that the Technical Commission for Budgetary and Financial Management (CTGOF) and the Budget Execution Board (JEO) understood that the new minimum wage value should not be included in the grid of parameters before publication. of the Provisional Measure that made the additional increase official.

According to the Treasury, the change in the grid must have had the purpose of avoiding a blocking of expenses. “The change occurred for purely technical reasons, reflecting JEO’s position, and aimed only at following the standard protocol”, says the note. The Ministry of Planning and Budget informed that the bimonthly report was prepared “based on guidelines established by the Budget Execution Board”.