Government says it chose to yield in the Kamikaze PEC to avoid a bigger hole

The government chose to give in to the National Congress in the negotiations that led to the approval of PEC 16, fearing that if the vote were postponed to next week, there would be more time for the inclusion of other amendments that could further increase its final cost. The information was confirmed by government sources.

The original idea of ​​the PEC was that the sum of dividends from Petrobras and the sale of Eletrobras would supply the approximately R$ 50 billion initially estimated in the tax impact of the proposal. As approximately R$ 16 billion of this amount will come from tax waivers, a maximum of R$ 34 billion would be left over for tax benefits.

But initial calculations by members of the economic team indicate that, if the text approved today in the Senate is confirmed in the Chamber, the cost should exceed R$ 40 billion, R$ 6 billion more than initially planned.

However, even though the final design of the text approved by the Senate was not the one envisioned by the government, and especially by the economic team, government sources stated that it was not possible to allow a longer period of negotiation.

Government members say it was necessary to open negotiations, especially with three political actors: the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, who defended the inclusion of gratuity for the elderly, a benefit that ends up being positive for public transport companies; the MDB leader in the Senate, Eduardo Braga, who defended benefits for boatmen and taxi drivers — included this Thursday; and the PT, which celebrated the changes in the text, especially the restriction on the state of emergency. The party believed that in the way it was, it opened space for the government to spend during the election period.