The Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, said Thursday that his government has decided to grant relief to some 750,000 truckers to offset the increases in fuel prices, hours after repeating that a new wellness program It will not violate a constitutional spending limit.
The comments of Bolsonaro about helping truckers scared investors, who already feared that government spending on the new social assistance program “Auxilio Brasil” it would increase the budget deficit.
The Brazilian real extended its losses against the dollar following Bolsonaro’s comments, falling more than 2%, while the index Bovespa of the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange was sinking more than 4 percent.
Bolsonaro had said earlier on Thursday that his government decided to increase payments to Brazil’s social assistance program to at least 400 reais (about $ 70) per month for some 17 million families, but that it would do so in a “responsible” manner.
The Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, said Wednesday that the government was considering requesting a 30 billion reais (about $ 5.3 billion) exemption from the spending ceiling.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx