Coronavirus

Economy Minister to launch “corona-voucher” for gig workers

economy minister paulo guedes brazil tax reform
Economy Minister Paulo Guedes

In addition to stimulus measures announced on Tuesday, the Brazilian government plans to launch BRL 200 vouchers to financially support 18 million families of self-employed or informal workers that may require government assistance for three months. Only families that are not receiving any government aid at the moment will be eligible—and anti-fraud controls will be fiercely enforced, according to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes. 

Overall, the “corona-voucher” will cost the government BRL 15 billion and depends on Congress approving a state of calamity—to be voted on by the House today.

Declaring a state of calamity allows the government to miss its primary deficit targets for the year—of BRL 124 billion—making room for countercyclical measures, said the Economy Minister.


Correction: a previous version of this post said the government assistance program would last for four months, instead of three. This piece of information has been corrected.