Brazil’s Congress Weighs Weakening Lula’s Fiscal Plan Over Social Concerns
(Bloomberg) -- A key piece of Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s spending cut plan is set to be watered down over concerns that changes to a social program will hurt poor people, said the lawmaker in charge of presenting a new version of the bill in congress.
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Lawmaker Isnaldo Bulhoes, the rapporteur of one of the bills that makes up Lula’s plan to cut 70 billion reais ($11.5 billion) in spending through 2026, intends to make changes to the legislation to ensure that needy families that would be eliminated from the so-called continuous payment benefit remain covered.
Instead, he wants to focus the bill on avoiding payments to those who are not eligible for the program that provides aid to elderly and low-income people with disabilities, he said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
“I can’t have austerity without having a social vision,” he told Bloomberg. “I don’t have the heart to accept it.”
The government estimated an impact of 12 billion reais ($2 billion) by 2030 from the changes it proposed to this benefit alone.
Bulhoes’ proposal isn’t finalized yet, even as it is scheduled for a lower house vote later on Tuesday. He has no estimate for how much his own alterations will cost, but argued that it is better to restrict access for those who do not need the benefit and strengthen protections against fraud.
According to Bulhoes, the government will spend 106 billion reais on the program known as BPC in 2024. Spending on the program has grown 20% over the last 12 months, he said.
Bulhoes intends to maintain the government’s proposal to limit minimum wage increases to within fiscal rules.
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