Brazillian lottery privatisation, delayed

The bidding process for Brazil’s instant lottery Lotex has been delayed until February after the presidential election.

Brazil.- The National Bank for Economic and Social Development of Brazil has announced it has delayed the privatisation process for its exclusive instant lottery (Lotex) until next February 5, 2019. The sale of the currently state-owned product was set to begin over the next few days but has been delayed after the presidential election.

President-elect Jair Bolsonaro will take office next January 1, 2019, and that’s why current authorities decided it would be convenient to keep Lotex under state control, at least until February. The decision goes against current President Michel Temer’s intentions to privatise the lottery and meant the third delay the process has experienced.

The new postponement was announced through the official journal of the federal government of Brazil, the Diário Oficial da União, in which it was detailed that offers will be accepted next January 30, 2019, once Bolsonaro is already President. The authorities project that the privatisation will allow the state to rake up to €147 million in three years.