Bolsonaro government cuts new budget in Brazilian science

Last Tuesday (31), government of the president Jair Bolsonaro Issued a decree cutting BRL 8.2 billion in the 2022 Budgetand The ministries of Education, Science and Technology and Health were particularly hit. by the new lock.

The measure is being taken to try to guarantee the salary readjustment provided for the servers.

request EstadaoEconomist Vilma Pinto of the Senate’s Independent Financial Institution (IFI) used information from the Official Gazette (DOU) last Tuesday (31) to calculate the total value.

Vilma details that the Education sector has had a cut of BRL 1.991 billion so far, while BRL 1.780 billion has been blocked from the fields of Science and Technology. In the healthcare sector, R$1.574 billion was cut. Other institutions, such as the Ministries of Defense and Economy, suffered blockages of R$1,004 billion and R$871,000, respectively.

The problem is that the blockade will affect policies that promote science and technological development in Brazil, and it goes without saying that this is not the Bolsonaro government’s first budget cut. For example, regarding the resources allocated to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), some ongoing actions will be compromised due to the blockade.

Unfortunately, another cut…

“Metaphorically, the MCTI and the federal funding agencies seem to have signed ‘a check with sufficient balance at the time’ and now the Ministry of Economy has transformed this ‘order of unfunded payment’,” says Science and Initiative for Science and technology in the Brazilian Parliament (ICTP.Br). on a note.

ICTP.Br brings together some of the most important scientific institutions in the country, such as the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and the National Management Association of Federal Institutions of Higher Education (Andifes).

The Brazilian Association for the Advancement of Science (SBPC) also issued a message of rejection of the court and demanded respect from the Executive Power. “The SBPC requests that the Executive Power respect applicable legislation and not maintain this billion-dollar blockade of several resources of the National System for Science, Technology and Innovation (SNCTI) currently in place,” the memo reads.

In March this year, the government also announced a BRL 1.72 billion cut in public spending for 2022. In any case, the blockade is not a guarantee for the recalibration of civil servants’ salaries.