Lula targets the Central Bank over 1,400 Pix to a sportsbook
Fourteen hundred Pix transfers to the same sportsbook in just three months. This is the case that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva brought up on September 13, during a live broadcast, to ask aloud why a movement of such magnitude did not trigger any alarms at the Central Bank.
The Brazilian president reported that he met with people struggling with gambling addiction and with relatives of those who lost their lives due to this dependency, and he placed the focus of his concern on the debt that the activity can generate. On that basis, he questioned whether the State should remain passive, and he reiterated an idea he had expressed before: if the decision depended solely on his will, he would shut down online betting. He also clarified that he has measures under consideration.
The scene allows for a political interpretation. Journalist Lauro Jardim wrote in O Globo that the hardening of the presidential discourse responds to an initiative by Sidônio Palmeira, Chief Minister of the Secretariat of Social Communication (Secom), who believes that the issue could boost the president's approval ratings in polls amidst an electoral dispute.
That same column casts doubt on the instrument. According to Jardim, the provisional measure that the Government is reportedly about to publish with new limits for the sector is not on the official agenda. A minister who requested anonymity went further and attributed the entire matter to Palmeira.
This information clashes with what was published days ago by CNN Brasil, which reported on the analysis of a provisional measure with restrictions, and with Lula's own statements, who the previous Thursday had announced on television that he had already made a decision about the sector without revealing what it was.
Pix is the instant payment system of the Central Bank of Brazil and has become the main channel for deposits in the regulated betting market, which operates under federal license starting January 1, 2025. The regulations of the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting require that transactions be made from accounts in the name of the bettor themselves and prohibit the use of credit cards, precisely to ensure traceability of the origin of funds.
Tags: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Pix, Central Bank of Brazil, Sidônio Palmeira