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Source: https://www.wionews.com/world/milli...ty-if-covid-19-emergency-payments-stop-333880
Millions of Brazilians face dire poverty if Covid-19 emergency payments stop
Reuters Brasilia, Brazil Oct 09, 2020, 01.52 PM(IST)
Extension of the generous subsidies is stalled in Congress and faces some opposition from within the government whose economic policy team worries about an uncontrolled budget deficit.
Brazil managed to alleviate poverty with emergency payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, but if government income support efforts are not continued 15 million Brazilians will be thrown back into dire poverty come January, an economist warned on Thursday.
Extension of the generous subsidies is stalled in Congress and faces some opposition from within the government whose economic policy team worries about an uncontrolled budget deficit.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” economist Marcelo Neri, head of social policies at the FGV higher education think tank in Rio de Janeiro, told Reuters.
An FGV study published on Thursday said the number of poor Brazilians, those that earn less than half of a minimum wage, or 515 reais ($92) per month, fell 23.7% to a new low of 50 million people thanks to the monthly payments that started at 600 reais, but have now been cut to 300 reais and expire on Dec. 31.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has risen thanks to the hand-outs, is scrambling to find a way to maintain payments, but there is no way to fund them without breaking a constitutional spending cap and worsening a run-away budget deficit.
Brazil was more generous than other Latin American nations with its poor during the pandemic even though its fiscal situation was worse; although Economy Minister Paulo Guedes was trying to keep his fiscal austerity drive on track, Neri said...
Millions of Brazilians face dire poverty if Covid-19 emergency payments stop
Reuters Brasilia, Brazil Oct 09, 2020, 01.52 PM(IST)
Extension of the generous subsidies is stalled in Congress and faces some opposition from within the government whose economic policy team worries about an uncontrolled budget deficit.
Brazil managed to alleviate poverty with emergency payments during the Covid-19 pandemic, but if government income support efforts are not continued 15 million Brazilians will be thrown back into dire poverty come January, an economist warned on Thursday.
Extension of the generous subsidies is stalled in Congress and faces some opposition from within the government whose economic policy team worries about an uncontrolled budget deficit.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” economist Marcelo Neri, head of social policies at the FGV higher education think tank in Rio de Janeiro, told Reuters.
An FGV study published on Thursday said the number of poor Brazilians, those that earn less than half of a minimum wage, or 515 reais ($92) per month, fell 23.7% to a new low of 50 million people thanks to the monthly payments that started at 600 reais, but have now been cut to 300 reais and expire on Dec. 31.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, whose popularity has risen thanks to the hand-outs, is scrambling to find a way to maintain payments, but there is no way to fund them without breaking a constitutional spending cap and worsening a run-away budget deficit.
Brazil was more generous than other Latin American nations with its poor during the pandemic even though its fiscal situation was worse; although Economy Minister Paulo Guedes was trying to keep his fiscal austerity drive on track, Neri said...