FGTS: Caixa will distribute around R$15.2 billion of FGTS profits among workers

Caixa Econômica Federal will distribute 65% of its FGTS profits in 2023 among formalized workers. Last year, the Severance Pay Guarantee Fund made a record profit of R$23.4 billion, almost double the previous year, according to information from the Ministry of Labor and Employment (MTE). With this, around R$15.2 billion will be transferred to the more than 130 million workers with active and inactive FGTS accounts, according to the account balance on December 31, 2023. The announcement was made at a meeting of the FGTS Board of Trustees, this Thursday (8).

Recently, the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) ruled that the FGTS must have a minimum correction by the Broad National Consumer Price Index (IPCA). If the result of the distribution of profits, added to the 3% annual yield plus the TR, is lower than inflation, the Board of Trustees is required to define a compensation to reach the IPCA.

The Secretary of Worker Protection at the Ministry of Labor and Employment, Carlos Augusto Simões, said that the council took into account the STF decision and other premises to determine the amount to be passed on to workers.

“The premise of the proposal is that the Supreme Court’s decision to pay workers’ bills at least according to the IPCA must be complied with, that is, as a minimum. The second reference is to propose a real increase above the average of previous years, considering, in this case, the extraordinary value of 2023. Another premise is the permanent reinforcement of the PL (net equity) so that the Guarantee Fund can count on resources that guarantee the IPCA in years in which it is higher than the results. And, in addition to this, encouragement of investments with higher remunerations to ensure the sustainability of the fund, imagining that, from now on, the progressive increase of the PL can generate greater availability for investments.”

Performance

Economist Newton Marques, member of the Regional Economic Council of the Federal District (Corecon-DF), explains that the FGTS profit comes from the return on investments.

“Investments in public bonds, housing credit operations, basic sanitation, urban mobility, all (done) through Caixa Econômica. It is important to know that the FGTS correction is 3% per year, plus the TR, which is close to the return on savings from last year.”

The president of the Union of Economists in the State of São Paulo (SINDECON-SP), Carlos Eduardo Oliveira Junior, highlights three factors for the record income in 2023.

“First, housing loans, where the interest paid by borrowers returns as revenue. You lend this resource to the person to purchase their residence and they charge interest. On top of that, without a doubt, it returns as revenue. And we can also highlight that there was a lower default rate in relation to these loans.”

“There was also investment in infrastructure, which generates returns through concession contracts and public-private partnerships, that is, these are investments that return to society and, as they raise resources through guarantee funds, they return again as gains, mainly for the FGTS. And financial investments, even though they are conservative investments, the fund is invested in government bonds and other financial assets that yield interest and dividends,” he adds.

Despite the distribution of profits, the worker cannot withdraw the FGTS amounts, except in cases provided for by law.

“You can’t go there and say: ‘I want to withdraw my profits’. However, these profits are credited to the guarantee fund accounts and can be accessed according to the FGTS withdrawal rules, such as in the case of unfair dismissal, retirement, or purchase of property to pay off installments of financing”, explains economist Carlos Eduardo.

The rules for withdrawing FGTS are: