Brazil’s national bank, Caixa Econômica Federal (CAIXA), has set proposals, to apply a series of price rises across its lottery products have been approved by the Secretariat of Evaluation, Planning, Energy and Lottery (SECAP).
Prices for a grand total of eight products will see an increase of an average of 28.2 per cent next year according to SECAP. This will regulate the lottery sector in Brazil and is a division of the country’s Ministry of Economy.
The prices of the new products will start at BRL1.50 for the Loteca and Lotogol products and will go up to BRL4.50 for the Mega-Sena product.
It has been defended by the secretariat, where it has been said that they were the first to be applied since May 2015. They were “motivated by the prospect of sustainable economic growth in the coming years and by the opening and expansion of the national lottery market ahead of next year”, it said.
It has also been added by SECAP that the price adjustments would provide CAIXA with “better conditions to cope with the competitive lottery market environment”.
This has cone weeks after the country’s Investment Partnership Programme (PPI) had finally privatised the instant lottery business which was previously operated by CAIXA. A consortium comprising International Game Technology and Scientific Games won the tender to operate the state-owned instant win gaming business Loteria Exclusiva Instantânea (Lotex).
The 15-year contract will also see the two suppliers pay an initial BRL96.9m (£18.4m/€21.4m/$23.8m) under a joint venture to secure the contract. This is then followed by seven instalments of BRL103.0m. 17 per cent of the annual revenues will also be paid to the Brazilian government over the duration of the contract, which is set to be finalised no later than 16 April 2020.
The Brazilian lottery market has reported a 52.6 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue for the second quarter of 2019. Mega-Sens have more than doubled their contribution over the period. However, weaker performances were reported for other products, such as Lotofácil, which posted a three per cent decline in revenue to BRL$1.0m.
The changes have come against the backdrop of a wider overhaul of Brazil’s largely unregulated gambling market.
In September, SECAP published a draft of a decree governing fixed-odds sports betting for comment, the final opportunity for the betting industry to suggest changes.
