The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) plans to announce in the coming days the return of the Loteria Instantânea Exclusiva (Lotex), popularly known as “scratch card”, as part of the process of rebuilding Brazil based on democratic values.
This measure aims to revert the flexibility policies adopted by the previous government and strengthen the financing of social programs through the resources derived from the bets.
The resumption of Lotex will be made official through a Provisional Measure (PM), prepared by the economic team of the Ministry of Finance.
The objective is to boost tax collection, with estimates indicating an additional amount of between R$ 3 billion and R$ 5 billion annually.
In addition, the text of the PM suggests the inclusion of taxation of online sports betting, with the potential to increase revenue by up to R$ 12 billion.
In this way, the government seeks to commit to improving public accounts.
With the return of this lottery, Caixa Econômica Federal will once again be responsible for the operation, as it was before the privatization attempts in recent years.
Since 1970, the public bank has taken over the administration of federal lotteries in Brazil under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance.
The monopoly of lotteries in the country has always belonged to Caixa, although it has been the subject of some unsuccessful privatization attempts, as in the auctions that took place between 2016 and 2019.
Since 2015, Lotex has not been exploited, resulting in a significant loss of resources for the social and economic development of different regions of the country.
The operation with lotteries has always represented a historic gain for Brazil and its population, according to the National Federation of Caixa Personnel Associations (Fenae), as the funds collected were reinvested by the public financial institution in areas such as social security, sport, culture, public security, education and health, promoting public investments in the country.
Sergio Takemoto, president of Fenae, commented: “The segment’s return may benefit more than half of the funds allocated to public policies, in addition to strengthening Caixa’s balance sheet”.
For Takemoto, lotteries are one of the most profitable businesses in the public bank, with ever-increasing profits per year.
“If it really comes to fruition, Lotex’s return will bring gains not only in the short term, inflating the annual result. In the long term, important recurring revenues are generated, with a focus on the Caixa public, social and increasingly strengthened”, adds Takemoto.
Caixa’s internal studies attested to the positive performance of the scratch card, revealing to the Lula government that it was the second highest grossing lottery in the world.
The return of this modality could have a very significant impact on the national economy.
