(Brasilia) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro assured Sunday that his decision to increase allowances for the poorest by 20%, then to propose an even larger increase, had nothing to do with the goal of being re-elected in 2022.
“We deplore the situation in which the poor in Brazil find themselves, who are going through difficult times. We are not fighting for the 2022 elections. It is a subject that is not discussed, ”Bolsonaro said in Brasilia.
The government of the Brazilian president announced Wednesday the establishment from November of a new social program, which will replace the “Bolsa Familia” created by the left, with a 20% increase in benefits for the poorest.
This announcement took place one year before the presidential election, for which Mr. Bolsonaro is widely defeated in the polls by ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2003-2010), creator of the popular “Bolsa Familia », Flagship social program of his first term.
The creation of the “Auxilio Brasil” program was announced a few hours after the disclosure of a damning report by a parliamentary committee of the Senate which called for the indictment of the head of state for ten crimes because of his judged policy ” irresponsible ”during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The “Bolsa Familia” pays 14.7 million families variable allowances, amounting to 190 reais on average (around 29 euros).
The “Auxilio Brasil” provides for the payment, from November, of 20% higher allowances (228 reais on average), to an enlarged public of 16.9 million families.
But President Bolsonaro then declared on several occasions that he wanted the minimum amount to be 400 reais (around 61 euros) per family.
This highly controversial new proposal has yet to be submitted to Parliament for approval.
According to specialists, it would be practically impossible to reach this amount without exceeding the ceiling of budgetary expenditure.
Inequalities have widened sharply in Brazil due to the coronavirus crisis and the situation of the poorest has deteriorated even further in recent months, due to soaring inflation.
Inequalities have widened sharply in Brazil due to the coronavirus crisis and the situation of the poorest has deteriorated even further in recent months, due to soaring inflation.