Senate body identifies 'noticeable deterioration' of 'relevant part' of federal state-owned companies

In the document, the IFI explains that it does not intend to raise elements about the possibility of privatizing companies, as it classifies this debate as complex, as it involves the analysis not only of the costs and benefits of keeping a specific company under State control, but also the social returns that are expected to be obtained. ??In the 2027 Budget Guidelines Law project, sent to the National Congress in April this year, the federal government admits that federal state-owned companies, in deficit since 2023, will continue to be in the red until 2030. The term "deficit" means that the combined expenditure of these state-owned companies was greater than the revenue they managed to generate in the year. Understand State-owned companies are considered "dependent" when they need resources from the Union to carry out personnel, cost and capital expenses, excluding, in this case, resources from shareholding. In other words, it needs resources from the Treasury to maintain its operation, made available in allocations in the Fiscal and Social Security Budget. Among the dependent state-owned companies are Codevasf, Conab, EBC and Embrapa. "Non-dependent" state-owned companies, public or mixed-economy companies, in turn, are those that, in theory, do not need government resources to finance personnel expenses, costs and investments, with the exception of contributions that increase shareholding. These are entities that operate with their own revenue generated by their operational activities. Its investment expenses are part of the Union's investment budget. Among them are Correios, Infraero, Emgepron, Emgea and Dataprev. According to the IFI, of the Federal Senate, among dependent state-owned companies, the analysis of net equity, operational cash flow and the cash sufficiency indicator reveals a group of companies – notably Codevasf, CBTU, Embrapa, HCPA and EBSERH – whose financial trajectory differs from the pattern observed in years prior to 2018. "For these companies, it is worth emphasizing that the problem is not one of solvency in the traditional sense, since their existence depends on subsidies from the Treasury and not on their own generation The relevant risk lies in the mismatch between expenses and transfers, when persistent, it tends to turn into pressure for budgetary supplements or extraordinary contributions, competing for fiscal space with other public policies subject to the limits of the RFS", assessed the Independent Fiscal Institution. Correios Headquarters in Palmas, Tocantins Djavan Barbosa/TV Anhanguera In the group of non-dependent state-owned companies, the body assesses that the operating margin indicators, exposure to financial revenues and profit quality point to "distinct weaknesses", but "equally relevant". "Cases such as those of ECT [Correios], Emgepron and Infraero show that, even without directly burdening the fiscal and social security budget, these companies can compromise their ability to distribute dividends to the Union or, in more extreme situations, demand capital contributions, such as what the Union will do to ECT in 2027, as provided for in the loan contract contracted by the company in 2025", added the IFI. Situation of Correios In the case of Correios, whose deficit tripled in 2025 and reached R$8.5 billion, the federal government itself admits that the state-owned company may continue to have a worsening economic-financial situation, following the trend observed in the last two years, despite the restructuring plan in force. "Among the measures of the aforementioned [financial restructuring] plan are the reduction of costs, with measures to clean up its supplementary pension plans, restructuring of health plans, voluntary dismissal programs, sale of idle properties and tariff readjustment, among others, but the tendency is for the company to still present high losses in 2026", says the government, in the 2027 LDO project. The state-owned company contracted a loan of R$ 12 billion signed with a consortium of banks in December 2025, with a guarantee from the National Treasury. In February, the National Monetary Council (CMN) gave space for Correios to be able to obtain a new loan with guarantees from the Union. Through the decision, Correios will be able to seek an additional R$8 billion in loans. To face the financial hole, the government authorized, in May this year, the state-owned company to sell insurance, capitalization bonds and operate in the telephone market. The idea is for the company to enter into agreements with financial institutions to offer services. For the Independent Fiscal Institution, the worsening situation at Correios is related to: Parcel revenues rose significantly during the pandemic period, having flattened out from 2023 onwards. Message and international postage revenues have suffered significant drops in the last four years, especially postage revenues. Regulatory changes in purchases of imp products