The idea is to follow a worldwide trend and be able to regulate a sector whose size, the government believes, to double in ten years with the measures being prepared and that can go even further if the gaming regulation process is extended in the future.
The technicians are expected to finalize this month the rules for the
Lotex auction, officially scheduled for November, but that the economic area already tries to move to October. Although revenue originally expected at this auction was US$ 1.22 billion, the numbers have reduced revenue by less than half, although the minimum price is still being finalized.
According to a government source, there are three alternatives for defining the
Lotex sales format. The first, which was
the original, would be to sell the Caixa subsidiary that currently operates the service. This option, however, arose in a context in which it was believed that Caixa was the owner of the service, which in fact was not. This alternative, although still at the table, is the least profitable for the government coffers, since the revenue would come only from the capital gain from the privatization of the state lottery.
The other option that is more profitable is the concession of the service through payment of a fee. In this case, there are two alternatives
in the table: the participation of Caixa in the winning consortium or the absence of the bank in the business, leaving the dispute only among private sector companies. The first has the advantage of bringing to Caixa the expertise of the major international operators and, in turn, facilitating the insertion of the winner in the Brazilian
market, since the state bank already knows the segment in the country.
In addition to
Lotex, the government already has a bill ready to regulate electronic gambling, depending only on dispatch by the Civil House. The economic team believes that this project should be approved later this year to make the market viable as of next year. In this segment, there will not be a privatization process, but authorization for companies to operate in Brazil. Currently,
na offer of this type of gaming already exists, but through foreign websites that operate irregularly and without generating revenue to the government.
With these two options, the government believes it can unleash the gaming market in Brazil, which for more than ten years has stabilized at around 0.2% of GDP. In Italy, according to sources, this market has sales of 2% of GDP.
Besides the economic gain and the generation of jobs, the gaming industry is a strong fundraiser. Today, half of the lottery revenues go to government coffers and finance a number of social programs. These resources would also double over ten
years, if the forecast for market expansion in this period is confirmed. According to government technical area assessments, the most intense market growth occurs between the fifth and tenth years, but the peak is reached in 20 years, once the gaming activity is released.
Source: GMB / Fabio Graner - Valor Econômico Pro
