Secretary defends reviewing decree that limited slice of income that can be used to pay off debts

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Wadih Damous, national consumer secretary, assesses that the ‘existential minimum’, currently equivalent to 25% of the minimum wage, should be expanded to guarantee a larger share of income for families. The National Consumer Secretary, Wadih Damous, said this Friday (27) that he will propose to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the repeal of the decree that established the value of the so-called “existential minimum” at 25% of the minimum wage. The decree was issued last year by then-President Jair Bolsonaro. The so-called “existential minimum” is the minimum amount of a person’s income to pay basic expenses and which cannot be used to pay off debts. Based on the current minimum wage of BRL 1,302, the “existential minimum” is BRL 325.50 – when Bolsonaro issued the decree, the minimum wage was BRL 1,212, and the “existential minimum”, BRL 303. “Nobody lives on 25% of the minimum wage. You cannot accept the idea that R$303 could be the existential minimum. a new existential minimum. Anyway, this will be a debate with the Procons and with all consumer entities”, said the secretary. Wadih Damous made the statement after having participated in a meeting with representatives of the state Procons. According to the secretary, the federal government is evaluating which measures it can adopt to reduce the number of people in a situation of “over-indebtedness”. Damous claimed not to have a number of people in that situation. A survey by the National Confederation of Commerce (CNC) released on January 19 showed that 77.9% of Brazilian families were indebted in 2022. According to the national consumer secretary, President Lula asked government members to “priority” so that the household indebtedness is reduced. In Damous’ assessment, consumption cannot lead people to their own financial “ruin”. “Today, we have a phenomenon here in Brazil – which has taken on dramatic contours – which is over-indebtedness. It is a priority here at Senacon to face this problem. From the beginning, President Lula has already made it a priority for the government. It will be dealt with in the field of Economics and here in our field as well”, declared Wadih Damous.

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