The settlement of accounts between Petrobras and the National Treasury, which will review the onerous assignment contract for the pre-salt, could help the government improve prospects for compliance with the golden rule and contain the growth of public debt in 2019, said today (12) the Minister of Finance, Eduardo Guardia. According to him, the oil money and the privatization of Eletrobras did not enter the revenue forecast of the Law of Budgetary Guidelines (LDO) of 2019.

Precisely because they were not included in the estimate, these resources, Guardia pointed out, will help the public accounts because of the federal spending ceiling, which limits the growth of federal spending to inflation until at least 2026. "This onerous assignment has a relevant fiscal impact not only to contribute to the resolution of the golden rule problem next year. We can not spend that money because it has the spending ceiling. So that helps to reduce the problem of next year's rule of thumb, "he said.

Established by Article 167 of the Constitution, the golden rule prohibits the government from issuing public debt securities to finance current (day to day) expenditures. The Union can only go into debt to finance investments - public works and the purchase of equipment - and to refinance its own debt.

According to Guardia, the money from the onerous assignment, whose volume is not yet estimated, and the R$ 12 billion that will enter the Union's cash with the privatization of Eletrobras will reduce the lack of resources to comply with the golden rule because they reduce the need for the National Treasury to issue government bonds. Smaller issues help insure the growth of public debt.

"The debt dynamics also improve, and this may be a relevant value. And the benefit of this, once again, and the same thing goes for the [privatization of] Eletrobras, goes well beyond the fiscal impact that is positive and is important as well. But this is important to ensure investments in the electricity sector and the oil and gas sector, "added the minister.

In 2010, Petrobras paid R $ 74.8 billion to the Treasury to cede the Union's right to explore 5 billion barrels of oil from the pre-salt layer. The National Petroleum Agency (ANP), however, currently estimates that the layer contains from 9.8 billion to 15.2 billion extra barrels. So that the government can make new auctions in the pre-salt layer, Petrobras and Treasury must reach an agreement.

For the Minister of Finance, the unlocking of the negotiations is important not only for the money it can generate for the government, but to stimulate investment in the oil sector and help the economy recover. "This is even critical to accelerate the growth trajectory. This opportunity for the pre-salt auction can bring billions of dollars worth of investments. Not only for the oil sector, this has a very large multiplier effect (for other sectors of the economy), "he said.