Brazil gambling expansion bill remains on track

The proposed land and internet gambling expansion legislation for Brazil continues to progress through the country’s legislative system, passing the scrutiny of the Senate Commission for Regional Development and Tourism last week and being fast-tracked to the House of Representatives by lawmakers keen to provide new revenues for a troubled national economy.

Faced with its lowest growth in the last quarter-century and international investment downgrades, the economy of this emerging nation is causing grave concern among its leaders, and the gambling bill’s prospects for approval are probably better than they have ever been.

Our readers will recall that earlier this year a similar bill made it as far as President Rouseff’s desk, but was vetoed at that point; observers say that is unlikely to occur a second time due to the worsening economic situation and the need for fresh revenues.

Giving the bill stronger legs is its inclusion in the omnibus Agenda Brazil, a legislative initiative developing a range of laws designed to relieve the economic crisis currently facing the nation.

The overall gambling expansion envisaged in Bill 186 is expected to deliver the equivalent of around US$3.7 billion to the fiscus.

With a population of 200 million, eight million of who are believed to regularly gamble online, the market is a tempting one provided the politicians develop reasonable but effective regulations and do not over-burden it with taxes and fees.

Related and similar