Pension improves, but gap hits R$ 375.3 billion – 05/06/2023 – Panel SA

Three years after the implementation of the Social Security reform, the country registered a deficit of BRL 375.3 billion, in 2022. Military and federal servants already have practically the same weight in this gap.

Despite the negative result, the number fell for the second consecutive time-1.3% compared to 2021. There was also a drop compared to 2020.

The data are contained in the account report of former president Jair Bolsonaro, which will be judged by the TCU (Union Court of Auditors) this Wednesday (7).

For auditors, the improvement in last year’s result is due to the increase in social security revenues above the growth in expenses — they were 7.7% against 5%, respectively. According to auditors, it was the highest revenue growth in the last eight years.

Retirement and benefit payments (R$958.5 billion) accounted for more than half (53.2%) of public spending in the period.

In the assessment of TCU technicians, these numbers already reflect the 2019 Social Security reform, which focused on the legal regime of military pensions.

In 2022, the military regime’s collection grew 168% compared to 2019 (from R$ 3.3 billion to R$ 8.79 billion) and expenses fell.

Even so, the weight of civilians and military personnel in the pension gap is roughly the same—48% versus 46%, respectively.

In the distribution of the Social Security deficit, the general regime (RGPS) accounted for 72% (R$ 270.2 billion). The remaining 28% (R$ 105.1 billion) refer to employees of the Union, Federal District and former territories, and military personnel.

“The 2022 social security result corresponds to the second consecutive year in which the social security accounts showed improvement, compared to the previous year, after nine years of successive increases in the Social Security deficit”, says the report.

The deficit in 2011 was approximately R$ 146.7 billion, already in figures updated by the IPCA, and rose uninterruptedly, at an average real rate of 14.5% per year, until reaching the apex of R$ 422.7 billion in 2020.

Even with the reduction in the negative balance in 2021 and 2022, it is noted that, in the last ten years (from 2013 to 2022), the social security deficit grew at an annual average of 6.3%.

During this period, the Union’s non-pension expenditure showed a much less pronounced growth, of 1.2% per year (with the exception of extraordinary expenses to combat the pandemic in 2020), while the Brazilian GDP had an average increase of 0.5 % per year.

In this scenario, the social security deficit constitutes an increasingly large amount, when compared to other government obligations, say the auditors.

With Diego Felix

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