BRASILIA- A constitutional amendment dealing with how the Brazilian government will handle court-ordered payments would bring savings of 33.5 billion reais ($6.39 billion) in 2022, the Economy Ministry said on Tuesday.

Last week, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said court-ordered payments in 2022 would total 90 billion reais ($17.09 billion), a figure that could hit next year's budget like a "meteor."

The constitutional amendment, which Congress has yet to vote on, proposes to pay 3.3% of the court-ordered debt in installments starting in 2022, the ministry said.

The government also has proposed creating a fund to make such payments. It would receive proceeds from privatizations, sales of government-owned real estate and oil royalties, the ministry said.

Bruno Funchal, special secretary of the treasury and budget, told journalists the bill aims to ensure the government complies with a mandatory spending ceiling while paying the court-ordered debt.

He said the amount of that debt grew faster than the spending ceiling and could breach Brazil's main fiscal rule.

 

($1 = 5.2390 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Louise Heavens and Paul Simao) ((ana.mano@thomsonreuters.com; Tel: +55-11-5644-7704; Mob: +55-119-4470-4529; Reuters Messaging: ana.mano.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))