Brazilian Government to Allow Caixa to Operate Lotex on a Transitional Basis

September 1, 2023 | Government

BRAZIL (August 31, 2023) — As a way of seeking new sources of funds, the government will resume, through Caixa Econômica Federal, the operation of the Exclusive Instant Lottery – Lotex. The expectation is for a collection of R$ 3 billion (US$ 616m) per year with the measure.

Both the Secretary of Economic Reforms of the Ministry of Finance, Marcos Barbosa Pinto, and the president of Caixa, Rita Serrano, had been talking about the resumption of Lotex operations by the state bank and now the measure has been officially announced.

Decree 11,675/2023, published this Thursday (31st), determines that the Ministry of Finance may authorize, on a transitional basis, the direct exploitation of Lotex by Caixa for a specified period or until the beginning of the indirect execution by the winning operator of the process concession bidding.

There is still no deadline for placing the Bidding Notice on the market and, with that, the government will gain time in the exploration process “on a transitional basis”. In addition, the Ministry of Finance must communicate to Caixa Econômica Federal, the end of Lotex’s direct execution at least six months before the beginning of the effective execution of the concession contract.

The decree will come into force from September 10th and the Ministry of Finance is already working with Caixa to put the operation on the street.

The instant lottery was suspended in 2015 and the government created Lotex, regulated three years later and put up for auction. After comings and goings, the operation ended up not happening and the government, now in search of new resources, presented the decree that gives Caixa the temporary operation.

Lotex’s collection will be used for the following purposes: