Government wants to audit 2 million social security benefits.

Brazil Agency - The federal government will conduct an audit of 2 million benefits paid by the National Social Security Institute (INSS) that show signs of irregularity. The announcement was made by the Special Secretary for Social Security and Labor, Rogério Marinho, after a meeting at the Planalto Palace to discuss the provisional measure to combat fraud at INSS, which should be issued by President Jair Bolsonaro by Monday (14).

Marinho met with ministers Onyx Lorenzoni (Chief of Staff) and Paulo Guedes (Economy) to assess the text of the provisional measure. "There are more than 2 million benefits that need to be audited because there is some indication of illegality. Therefore, there is a need to carry out a kind of joint effort to eliminate this backlog," said Marinho.

According to the secretary, the joint effort could generate "significant savings" for public coffers. "There are reports from previous actions, including those validated by the TCU [Federal Court of Accounts], that demonstrate an incidence of 16% to 30% of fraud in this type of benefit."

Signing of the Provisional Measure

The secretary said that the president should sign the provisional measure by Monday. "I believe that the president will sign it by Monday. Once signed, it will become public knowledge, and we will be able to explain in detail what we intend with this project, which combats fraud, improves benefit validation mechanisms throughout the country, and addresses a concern of society as a whole."

The text of the provisional measure was submitted to the president for evaluation. "The president is already aware of the content of the provisional measure, but until he signs it, we will wait a little longer," said Marinho, adding that the rules of the provisional measure should generate savings in the order of "billions of reais," without specifying the amounts.

legal security

According to the secretary, the provisional measure will also bring "legal certainty" to the INSS (National Institute of Social Security). "We are planning some changes to the legislation that will provide legal certainty to the INSS's work itself. Over the past few years, several actions taken by the INSS to improve the system have been hampered by a lack of legal basis. These identified difficulties are being corrected."

Once signed, the provisional measure will take effect immediately, but it will need to be approved by the National Congress to definitively become law. Congress has a period of 60 days, which can be extended for another 60 days, to vote on the text, approving it or deciding to reject it.

Meanwhile, the economic team is running simulations to define the proposed constitutional amendment (PEC) for pension reform, to be submitted to the National Congress. The simulations involve the minimum retirement age and the transition period for workers who already contribute to the current pension system.