Before the election in Brazil: Lula increases social welfare

/ap | Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has increased benefits in the country's main social welfare program by 15 percent. A few weeks before the first round of the presidential election, the minimum monthly benefit for a family under “Bolsa Família” will increase from 600 to 691 reals (around 117 euros). The average performance increases from 675 to 777 real (around 132 euros). According to the decree signed on Thursday, this is intended to compensate for inflation that has accumulated since March 2023. The new amounts are to be paid out to millions of families from October 19th.

Finance Minister Dario Durigan described “Bolsa Família” as central to supporting low-income families. The costs of the increase would be covered from budget resources already earmarked. This year it is expected to cost around 5.8 billion reals (985 million euros), next year around 22 billion reals (3.7 billion euros).

The measure was announced just weeks before the election in which Lula is seeking a fourth term. Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is considered a possible opponent.

Bolsonaro ally Marcos Antônio Pereira Gomes, known as Zé Trovão, asked the electoral court to suspend the increase. He argued that it was an illegal election campaign measure. However, the responsible judge, André Mendonça, rejected the application on Thursday evening without addressing the allegations. The reason he gave was that Gomes was not authorized to submit the application.