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Brazil's interim president announces tough measures to curb gov't expenditure

Xinhua, May 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

Brazil's interim President Michel Temer announced Tuesday a series of tough measures to curb the ever mounting government expenditure.

In a public announcement delivered in Brasilia, Temer said that the government will put a cap on public spending in public healthcare and education, two areas which are in perennial need of financial support in Brazil.

Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles earlier said that the measure, to be presented to Congress in the next days for approval, will help bring down the government expense by 1.5 to 2 percent of the GDP.

Another controversial measure is the abolishment of the Sovereign Fund, which was created in 2008 to reserve money against the then economic crisis and has pooled about 2 billion reals (558 million U.S. dollars) till now.

In addition, Temer also announced a change in the exploration rules of Brazil's extensive pre-salt oil reserves, which would reduce the national oil company Petrobras' participation in the business so as to prompt more engagement of foreign and private enterprises.

All these measures seemed to go against the programs of the former administration of President Dilma Rousseff where Temer was the vice president.

Analysts here say that the measures Temer has taken so far since taking office two weeks ago show that he did not intend to continue Rousseff's policies even in the slightest, but has taken a much more right-wing path.

However, it remains unknown whether his current and upcoming policies would be sustained, as protests against him continue to rage all over the country.

Over the past few days, tens of thousands of people gathered in major cities like Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre to express their displeasure at the interim president. Endi