Humberto Costa demonstrates ignorance by criticizing bets due to inflationary pressure.
During a speech in the Plenary this Tuesday (26), Senator Humberto Costa (PT-PE) celebrated the release of data on the Brazilian economy which, according to him, “prove the extraordinary results of the efforts made by President Lula’s government to put Brazil back on track” and showed total ignorance when criticizing bets on inflationary pressure.
“The preliminary inflation figure, the IPCA-15, fell 0,14% this August, the first deflation since 2023. In other words, not only did we not have inflation, but we had a general reduction in prices, a negative inflation, the item with the greatest impact being the drop in residential electricity prices, according to IBGE. This is proof, as I said, that the quick and intelligent actions of our government to structure the country and respond to countless challenges, including this absurd tariff hike by the United States organized by Bolsonaro's supporters against Brazil, are effective,” he stated.
However, Humberto expressed concern about the constant growth of the item called Personal Expenses, highlighted in the research. This includes online gambling, "which demonstrates the damage that this addiction, this social ill, has caused to the Brazilian economy and to individual and collective health."
“This item saw the largest increase in August among all those surveyed: 1,09%. This was even more than the health and personal care item, which this month included adjustments to health plans authorized by the National Supplementary Health Agency, and which represented 0,64%, that is, 42% less than the personal expenses indicator. Last month, the 3,34% increase in betting on digital bets had already placed the item among the main contributors to inflationary pressure in the preliminary IPCA figures on July 15th. According to IBGE, this was the first time that digital betting surpassed electricity in percentage impact, thus gaining significant weight in the composition of official inflation,” he emphasized.
Bets are "paying the price" and creating embarrassing situations for the senator.
Senator Humberto Costa, who is critical of sports betting, online gambling, and the legalization of gambling, demonstrated complete ignorance on the subject by singled out betting as the main culprit behind inflationary pressure.
In fact, the biggest culprit in the budget for the month was the sub-item gambling or lotteries operated by Caixa Econômica Federal, which rose 11,45% on July 9th.
The prices of gambling games rose 11,17% in July and were the third largest influence on the National Consumer Price Index (IPCA), from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). This item accounted for 0,05 percentage points (pp) of the 0,26% IPCA rate for July released today. This means that if the price had remained stable, the IPCA increase would have been 0,21%.
"Gambling taxes were adjusted in July. This is not a regular adjustment; the last one was in May 2023," stated Fernando Gonçalves, manager of the IPCA (Brazilian Consumer Price Index).
Gambling, in turn, reflects the lottery price adjustment. The IPCA manager explained that IBGE only tracks the prices of lottery games and does not include bets on betting slips.
Lottery prices were readjusted starting July 9th by Caixa Lotteries. The average readjustment of 21,67%, effective July 9th, applied to different game types. Mega-Sena, Quina, Dupla Sena, and Super Sete saw a 20% increase, Lotofácil a 16,67% increase, and Loteca a 33,33% increase. The minimum Mega-Sena bet was readjusted from R$ 5 to R$ 6. The last readjustment occurred in April 2023.
