Unions press for interest rate cuts for retirees – 03/12/2023 – Panel SA

The reduction of interest rates on payroll loans for retirees is on the agenda of the CNPS (National Social Security Council) meeting this Monday (13), but the union’s expectation is not of an immediate solution.

According to João Inocentini, national president of Sindnapi (National Union of Retirees, Pensioners and the Elderly), the union leaders that are part of the council will increase the pressure for the approval of the measure and wait for it to be put to a vote.

“Banks are earning a lot on payroll, which is the safest money they have. The risk is zero. But I think that this week it will not be able to lower. I think there will be a proposal and we will work to lower it. Now, if it is for voting and if the government votes, we win”, he says.

He claims that he also sent the entity’s proposal to the government to re-discuss the debt with the banks. “We wanted to re-discuss this debt for retirees so that the banks could reduce their profits a little and reduce the debt of retirees a little. We have already sent our proposal. It is feasible to have a reduction of around 30% of the debt, and nobody loses money” , says Inocentini.

The Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, who chairs the CNPS, has said that, at the council meeting this month, the government will seek to reduce the interest rates charged on payroll loans to INSS retirees and pensioners (Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social).

He classifies the current level of interest as “criminal”. Also according to the minister, as it is a credit with a low risk of default, it would be possible to reduce the level charged.

The CNPS (Conselho Nacional da Previdência Social) established a ceiling for interest charged on payroll loan operations for retirees and pensioners at a rate of 2.14% per month. In transactions carried out by credit card, the rate is 3.06% per month.

Força Sindical, which has a representative in the CNPS, also presses.

“Deductible credit in social security benefits needs to be strengthened by reducing its maximum interest rates, relieving the target public and enhancing the capacity for domestic consumption, a central element for the recovery of the dynamism of the Brazilian economy in all regions of the country”, said the trade union central in a note.

Joana Cunha with Paul Ricardo Martins It is Diego Felix

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