Programs try to unwind household consumption – 06/06/2023 – Maria Inês Dolci

While anxiously waiting for the Central Bank’s Copom (Monetary Policy Committee) to reduce the economy’s basic interest rate, the federal government has taken two measures to try to encourage sales: renegotiation of debts of up to R$5,000 for those earning up to two salaries minimum wages and a R$ 1.5 billion package to temporarily make cars, trucks, buses and vans cheaper.

The measures try to stretch the surprising GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth of 1.9% in the first quarter of the year.

If the programs are well executed, they should improve the second half of the year for millions of consumers, but this does not permanently replace cheaper credit, formal employment and higher family income.

Of the two programs, one is aimed at low-income families –Desenrola–, which may not be the same, but resembles the proposal by candidate Ciro Gomes (PDT) in the 2018 and 2022 presidential campaigns. of debts can benefit up to 30 million people, which would mean the return of millions of Brazilians to the consumer market.

By helping people with incomes of up to two minimum wages with debts of up to R$5,000, the measure rises a few steps above Bolsa Família, an income transfer program that, according to the government, benefits more than 21 million families.

The Desenrola Program has the fundamental support of Febraban (Brazilian Federation of Banks). The entity’s president, Isaac Sidney, said that the “program involves thousands of creditors and millions of debtors and its configuration requires a platform through which a large amount of information and documents will pass”.

He added that “this complexity requires large-scale technological and digital solutions, which are in the final stages of development and do not depend only on bank initiatives, but on other actors who are also directly involved”.

The tax credit for the purchase of vehicles has three objectives: to benefit the middle class in the purchase of a brand new car, alleviate the suffocation of automakers and encourage the renewal of bus and truck fleets.

The fact of considering, among the criteria for the discount, energy efficiency (in addition to the price and the nationalization index of the components), is very positive for a country that, in recent years, has not been treating the environment well.

In the case of fleet renewal, in addition to environmental gains, this can improve road safety, as well as vehicle circulation on the streets and avenues of large cities.

The anticipation of diesel re-encumbrance, with the charge of R$ 0.11 per liter starting in September, is not good news for truck drivers, but perhaps some juggling in Petrobras prices leaves the said for the unsaid.

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