Planning brings forward R$ 30,1 billion in court-ordered payments to 2024.

By Wellton Máximo, reporter for Agência Brasil - The R$ 30,1 billion in advance payments of court-ordered debts in 2024 have been transferred to the Judiciary and depend only on the management of the courts to be paid, the Ministry of Planning informed in Brasília. The process was completed on the 20th, with the supplementary credit that reallocated R$ 10,7 billion from the Budget for the settlement of the debts.

This Saturday (24), the Ministry of Planning published the details of the R$ 30,1 billion advanced. The largest part - R$ 14,75 billion - corresponds to court-ordered payments related to operating expenses (maintenance of the public machine) and capital expenses (such as investment and amortizations).

A total of R$ 11,85 billion refers to court-ordered payments from the defunct Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education (Fundef). These resources are intended for education, especially for the professional development of teachers in states and municipalities.

There are still R$ 2,74 billion in high-value court-ordered payments, R$ 541 million related to Social Security, and R$ 223 million for legal expenses related to public employees.

The advance payment will not impact the government's goal of eliminating the primary deficit—the negative result of government accounts excluding public debt interest—by 2024. This is because the funds are already allocated in this year's Federal Budget.

Government debts with final court rulings, the payment orders (precatórios), were expedited to eliminate the liability created by the 2021 constitutional amendment that allowed the installment payment of debts exceeding 60 minimum wages. If the expedited payment had not been made, the liability would have reached R$ 200 billion by the end of 2026.

Liabilities zeroed out - In November of last year, the Supreme Federal Court authorized the early payment of court-ordered debts outside the spending limits of the new fiscal framework and the calculation of the primary surplus. The following month, a provisional measure authorized the payment of R$ 93,1 billion.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Budget, of the total R$ 93,1 billion, R$ 15,8 billion referred to liabilities accumulated since 2022 and R$ 44,3 billion were related to amounts not paid this year. There were also R$ 32,3 billion not foreseen in the 2024 Budget and R$ 714 million related to the collection of employer contributions (contribution to the public service pension system) originating from the payment of court-ordered debts to public servants.

Even with the advance payment of R$ 32,3 billion at the end of last year, R$ 30,1 billion was still missing from this year's budget. According to the Ministry of Planning, with the advance payment executed this week, the liabilities from the constitutional amendment regarding court-ordered payments are now zero.

According to the 2024 Budget, there are still R$ 36,3 billion in court-ordered payments to be settled this year, but these funds are intended for small claims (RPV), court-ordered payments of up to 60 minimum wages not covered by the 2021 constitutional amendment.