Lula to unveil spending plan to pay for social aid

Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will unveil a multibillion-dollar spending plan to pay for his main campaign pledges in the first test of congressional support even before taking power. Lula returned to Sao Paulo over the weekend, after a short break at a beach in the northeast, to oversee the process. Lula needs to move fast to avoid any disruption to social aid payments. Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro has boosted cash handouts through his Auxilio Brasil programme to 600 reais a month, but set aside money for only 400-real handouts in next year’s budget. An additional 50 billion reais (NZ$17 billion) are needed to maintain monthly handouts at the current level. Lula has also promised to boost cash transfers for poor families with children under age 6.