Debt renegotiation program should reduce defaults in the country

The first of the three implementation stages of the program, the publication of MP No. 1,176 produces immediate legal effects. Its full effectiveness, however, will depend on the approval of the National Congress. The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have up to 120 days to assess the text and vote on the admissibility of converting the MP into law.

The expectation of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, is that the initiative will be in force in July, allowing the adhesion of creditors and debtors and the renegotiation of debts. “There is a series of bureaucratic measures to be taken until the creditors’ system is opened”, said the minister on Monday (5).

According to the Ministry of Finance, the purpose of the measure is to combat default in the country and help indebted Brazilians pay their debts. The most recent survey on indebtedness – carried out by the National Confederation of Shopkeepers (Cndl) and by the Credit Protection Service (SPC) – points out that, in April of this year, 66.08 million Brazilians had stopped paying a bill. In addition, four out of ten Brazilians were negative, that is, they had their names included in the list of defaulters drawn up by one of the credit protection agencies, such as the SPC and Serasa.

Renegotiation

The text of the MP – edited by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva – establishes that Desenrola Brasil seeks to “encourage the renegotiation of private debts of individuals registered in defaulters registers to reduce their indebtedness and facilitate the resumption of access to the credit market”. credit”.

Creditors interested in participating in the program must renegotiate the debt payment conditions, offering discounts to debtors and pledging to exclude from the registers of defaulters the low-value credits to which they are entitled, as well as the debts renegotiated under the program.

Those interested in paying off a debt can join the program and contract a new credit operation with a financial agent previously qualified to participate in Desenrola Brasil.

Agents must finance the debts included in the program with their own financial resources, but may charge a fee for services provided to creditors, respecting the limits established by the Ministry of Finance.

“We will refinance for the debtor, but the creditor will not have to wait for payment. He will be sure of receipt. We want to improve creditors’ discount conditions and make life easier for debtors”, said Minister Fernando Haddad, in a note.

The expectation of the federal government is that, as those who have debts will be able to choose the authorized institution with which they prefer to finance their liabilities, financial agents will compete with each other, offering greater discounts and lower interest rates.

Tracks

The program includes two ranges of benefits. The first benefits people who receive up to two minimum wages or who are enrolled in the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico).

In these cases, negative debts will be renegotiated until December 31, 2022. In addition, qualified financial agents may demand a guarantee from the Operations Guarantee Fund (FGO) in order to finance the settlement of bank and non-bank debts that do not exceed R $5k per debtor.

By offering guarantees for new loans, the federal government guarantees greater discounts on debts and lower interest rates. If the debtor fails to pay the installments of the renegotiated debt, the bank will start the collection process, and may make a new negative.

The renegotiated debt can be paid in cash or by bank financing in up to 60 months, with no down payment, with 1.99% interest per month and the first installment after 30 days. In the case of installments, payment can be made in direct debit, bank slip and pix. Cash payment will be made via Platform and the amount will be passed on to the creditor.

Tier II will be destined only to individuals with debts with banks that will be able to offer their customers the possibility of renegotiation directly. These operations will not be guaranteed by the FGO. In this case, the federal government will offer financial institutions – in exchange for discounts on debts – a regulatory incentive to increase the supply of credit.

In both ranges, the Central Bank will be responsible for overseeing compliance with the criteria of the Desenrola Brasil program, monitoring, evaluating and publishing the results achieved on a monthly basis.