Rising poverty could damage Brazil’s development

On the eve of Labor Day, Brazilian President Michel Temer appeared on television to congratulate the country’s workers. In a four-minute speech broadcast on television at 8:30 p.m. on April 30, Temer also made two brief announcements: that he was working on a new minimum wage project, and that he would adjust the budget of the poverty alleviation program Bolsa Família.

Bolsa Família is a conditional cash transfer program created by the first Lula government in 2003, and is credited with lifting approximately 36 million Brazilians out of poverty. Its main beneficiaries were Brazil’s historically poorer North and Northeast regions, which accounted for 25.8 percent and 28.4 percent of all recipients respectively, according to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IGBE).

After Temer’s speech, the Ministry for Social Development announced that Bolsa Família would receive a 5.67 percent raise to account for inflation. Although this is the eighth time the program has been adjusted for inflation since its introduction, it is the second time that Temer has adjusted it in just under two years as president.

“We have made a real improvement...