Brazil restructures lottery
Brazil has moved forward with a lottery project to restructure the current operating system.
Brazil.- The bank BNDES has been chosen by the Brazilian government to restructure the lottery system. The state government pick will plan the requirements to control the lottery unit that will be sold to investors. The lottery system modification was announced earlier this year as the government is preparing several privatisation moves.
The plan is part of President Michel Temer’s policy of reducing a widening budget gap and the state’s involvement in the market. The Brazilian BNDES will be in charge of all financial and legal aspects of an auction of Loteria Instantânea Exclusiva Lotex, a lottery unit currently overseen by state-controlled lender Caixa Econômica Federal SA.
Furthermore, the state bank will hire an institution to control the auction as the lottery unit will be sold to investors by an estimated value of US$14.1 billion. A government council focused on state asset sales approved on August 23 a plan to divest stakes in some of the country’s busiest airports as well as oil exploration, highway and power dam licensing rights.
The Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles revealed this month that the government is planning to auction off a lottery in the following months. The movement could be set in a general privatisation plan to restructure the economic situation of the South American giant.
The Congress of Brazil may soon approve a proposal to privatise the current state lottery industry. Whilst legislators have paused the evaluation of gaming legalisation, the newest project could see the green light by the end of 2017. The national lottery is currently operated by Caixa Econômica Federal.
The political crisis in Brazil has delayed the Congress and House of Representatives’ debates on gaming legalisation. The Operation Car Wash scandal involving a huge number of politicians has pushed back any other issues to be discussed at the National Congress and it’s still uncertain when the gambling industry is going to be able to arrive in the country. Despite uncertainty, casino giants Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Caesars Entertainment still have Brazil under their radar as a potential market.
