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Package under review in the Lula government targets overdue debts, cheaper credit, and immediate relief for family and small business budgets
The federal government has entered the final phase of discussions on a new package to address the indebtedness of Brazilian families. The proposal includes renegotiation of overdue debts, swapping expensive debts for cheaper credit, and the possibility of using part of the FGTS to settle outstanding obligations.
The discussions gained momentum after a meeting held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and ministers from the economic area. The topic returned to the center of the agenda because a significant portion of family income remains tied up in installments, high interest rates, and overdue bills.
Within the government, the assessment is that merely renegotiating old debts is not enough. The economic team wants to reduce the immediate burden of installments on the budget while simultaneously creating mechanisms to prevent consumers from falling back into debt shortly after.
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The Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, confirmed that the possibility of releasing FGTS funds is being analyzed in conjunction with the Ministry of Labor. The measure still depends on a technical assessment, mainly due to the need to preserve the fund’s role as protection for workers in case of dismissal.
Renegotiation may target debts overdue between 60 and 360 days and repeat part of the logic used in Desenrola
One of the axes of the package provides for the renegotiation of debts of low-income individuals overdue between 60 and 360 days. The idea is to create a model similar to Desenrola, a program created to facilitate agreements with discounts and clear the names of consumers with negative credit.
In the most recent discussions, the government is considering focusing efforts on those with debts overdue for up to a year, a range considered more viable for recovery. At the same time, consumers who are up to date with their bills but carry heavy installments may also be included in a migration to cheaper lines.
This second front aims to solve a common problem in credit in Brazil. Many people are not formally in default, but they have already lost their purchasing power because a significant portion of their monthly income is tied up in expensive financing and loans.
Guarantee fund may expand discounts and give banks breathing room to grant new financing with lower risk
To make the renegotiation more aggressive, the government is studying the use of a guarantee fund, with the Guarantee Fund for Operations, FGO, among the strongest options. The design under review proposes that banks and financial institutions that offer larger discounts on debts receive more public coverage in future credit operations.
In practice, this would create an incentive to increase discounts. In discussions already held by the Ministry of Finance, discounts could reach up to 80%, a percentage cited by Dario Durigan as a reference for cases where there is financial and operational space for a deeper restructuring.
This type of mechanism attempts to balance two interests. On one hand, it reduces the amount charged to the debtor; on the other, it decreases part of the risk assumed by financial institutions when granting new financing or refinancing.
The government also wants to understand why previous programs left part of the public out or did not prevent a relapse into indebtedness. This review includes both Desenrola and private payroll loans, which have not delivered the expected relief in various operations so far.
Use of FGTS to pay debts divides government areas by relieving bills now, but reducing workers’ reserve in unemployment
The most sensitive measure under discussion is the partial release of FGTS for debt settlement. The bet is that by using part of this balance to clear obligations, the worker can reorganize their budget, reduce interest, and regain purchasing power.
The problem is that FGTS also serves as a kind of financial cushion in times of unemployment. Therefore, the Ministry of Labor is cautiously evaluating any changes that could weaken the fund’s protection and compromise its integrity, as summarized by Dario Durigan when discussing the technical analysis of the topic.
In addition to withdrawals to pay debts, another area under study is the regulation of the use of FGTS as collateral in private payroll loan operations. The intention is to reduce the risk for banks and, with that, try to lower the rates charged to formal workers.
Today, one of the problems with private payroll loans is the cost above what the government anticipated. Rates hover around 4%, when the initial expectation was to stay below 3%, which frustrated part of the promise of cheaper credit.
There is also a significant operational hurdle regarding portability when an employee changes companies. The government wants to improve this process with the support of Dataprev and the Ministry of Labor, facilitating the transfer of contracts and reducing the risk that currently drives up interest rates.
Desenrola PJ for small businesses and MEIs enters the radar, but depends on new money and faces resistance in using forgotten resources
The discussions are not limited to families. The economic team is also studying the creation of a kind of Desenrola PJ, aimed at small businesses and individual micro-entrepreneurs, MEIs, a group that feels the credit squeeze and the difficulty of renegotiating debts without robust guarantees.
The reach of this program depends on the ability to fund the FGO or another similar fund. One of the alternatives under review is to utilize R$ 10.5 billion in forgotten resources in financial institutions to strengthen the guarantee structure and enable larger-scale renegotiations.
This point, however, is far from being a consensus. There are criticisms that the use of these funds may be seen as interference with private resources, although the argument within the government is that recent legal changes have already set deadlines for the recovery of these amounts.
Banks also express concern about losing a source of financing considered cheap. This helps explain why the final modeling has not yet been closed and depends on political, legal, and fiscal adjustments before any broader announcement.
Economic team evaluates cutting IOF and imposing restrictions against new indebtedness, with financial education and restrictions on online gambling
Another item on the table is the possibility of reducing the Tax on Financial Operations, IOF, on renegotiated debts. The measure would help lower the cost of contract swaps, but faces resistance because it affects revenue and comes shortly after the increase in rates used to bring the charges closer between individuals and businesses.
More than just renegotiating, the government is trying to prevent the problem from recurring in a few months. Therefore, part of the package should include requirements for financial education for those who join the programs and temporary restrictions on practices seen as riskier.
Among them are online gambling, identified in the official diagnosis as a factor contributing to the uncontrolled finances of part of the population. The intention is to create barriers or limits to reduce the commitment of income to this type of spending, especially among families already pressured by loans and overdue bills.
In the National Congress, the topic is likely to provoke debate because it mixes social policy, credit, worker protection, and fiscal impact. If it advances, the package could directly affect the wallets of millions of Brazilians and also the financing environment for small businesses in 2026.
And you, do you think it is correct to use part of the FGTS to pay debts or could this make workers more vulnerable in the future? Leave your opinion in the comments. This is a topic that divides economists, banks, the government, and workers, and the debate promises to heat up.
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