The president of Caixa Econômica Federal, Carlos Vieira, gave an interview to Brazilian news outlet Valor to talk about investments in the technology area, the bank's results and its performance in the housing area.
The director stated that the institution is trying to make up for its losses in relation to the country's most important banks in terms of technology and guaranteed that it will invest around R$9.5 billion (US$1.72bn) in the area.
He stated that Caixa is in a very good moment, with high profits and profitability, and that it is expanding its new microcredit program and that it is awaiting approval by Congress for the creation of the bank's foundation, which will work strongly in ESG.
Regarding the implementation of Caixa's ‘Bet’, the president said that the bank is still in the phase of signing a reliability agreement and that he does not know if it will be launched this year.
With the increase in the tax on sports betting companies from 12% to 18%, Carlos Vieira stated that the taxation is reasonable, but that the payout of lotteries is “the big issue.”
“Caixa has been working with bets and lotteries since 1966. We are still in the NDA [signing of a confidentiality agreement] phase, and we are studying this issue of bets,” he told Valor.
“The bank’s tax rate is 48%, and in bets it will go from 12% to 18%. Last year, we collected around R$25.5 billion (US$4.6bn) in lotteries, and 48% of that was taxed. Bet paying 18% is reasonable, it does not make the business unviable. The big issue is the payout, that is, how much it will pay in prizes. Each one will have to do its own calculations, within its own pricing,” he stated.
The president of Caixa concluded by saying: “I still don’t know if we will launch our ‘Bet’ this year.”
Source: GMB
