Finance Minister Fernando Haddad has been denounced by industry trade bodies in Brazil for an interview they believe was misguided.
Fernando Haddad is the finance minister of Brazil. He has caused a stir with his statement. He said he would vote to ban gambling if a bill appeared in the Chamber of Deputies.
Released on July 21, an explosive interview with ICL Noticias featured Haddad and economist Eduardo Moreira. They discussed the regulated gambling sector in Brazil. They launched it on January 1 of this year.
The finance minister described the situation as a disaster when asked by Moreira how Haddad and the government planned to reduce concerns over family financial troubles caused by gambling.
Haddad said that families are suffering. He’s seen things that are unspeakable, as they say. He has heard of horrifying cases involving bets, people he knows who even lost family members because of it. It’s a real tragedy.
He added that if a project came up in the Federal Chamber to continue or to stop betting in Brazil, he’d press the stop button. No amount of tax revenue justifies the mess they’ve created. What’s happening is really bad.
The SPA, which regulates gambling in Brazil, is a department within the ministry of finance. Many industry stakeholders pointed out the irony. The head of the ministry appeared to lobby for shutting down a sector that the ministry is responsible for regulating, in response to the interview.
Haddad is not the only official looking for a shutdown of licensed betting in Brazil. The sector is still waiting for the outcome of a Supreme Federal Court hearing in November. The hearing will determine whether the betting laws are unconstitutional. Officials expected this to be due in H1 2025. However, they haven’t addressed it in several months.
As Haddad is one of the key proponents of the bill to increase the gambling tax rate from 12% to 18% GGR, he has already attracted the ire of the licensed Brazil gambling sector.
