Brazil's Rousseff says belt-tightening needed to reactivate growth

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said Friday if the National Congress approves her government's spending cuts and tax increases, the country will " soon" overcome its economic crisis.

"Together, by approving the belt-tightening measures, we will get out of this soon," Rousseff told an official event in southern Rio Grande do Sul state, taking place in conjunction with Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (MST).

"Belt-tightening is part of life. Everyone does it. We're not belt-tightening because we like it, we are doing it so the country can continue to grow, generating employment and carrying out social policies," she said.

The president is trying to push through the unpopular measures at a time when public patience with officials is at all-time low, thanks largely to an embarrassing and ongoing corruption scandal at state oil giant Petrobras.

Over the weekend, disgruntled Brazilians took to the streets in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations ever in Latin America's largest economy.

Rousseff, who began her second term as president in January, last year tried to revive the slowing economy through numerous incentive packages, but they failed to spur economic activity.

Underscoring the importance of adopting the fiscal measures, she said the government "has no way to continue absorbing" the costs of the previous incentives and had to try a different approach. Endite