The federal government announced it will extend its emergency salary program, aimed at offsetting financial losses incurred by informal workers and low-income households during the Covid-19 pandemic. The benefit was originally designed to be a three-month BRL 600 (USD 124) payment — but will now be cut in half and paid for an extra two months. The move will cost an additional BRL 51 billion to the federal budget, according to newspaper O Globo.
As the government failed to cross applicants’ data with information from revenue services, 8 million Brazilians ineligible for the emergency benefit may have improperly received the monthly payment. Additionally, another 11 million who are eligible are still waiting for their applications to be accepted, raising criticism over the mismanagement of federal funds.
The Economy Ministry is also looking to implement a program to stimulate the creation of new formal jobs, amid the economic crisis caused by the global pandemic. According to think tank Fundação Getúlio Vargas, the average unemployment rate is expected to rise to 17.8 percent this year.
On Monday, June 8, the Citizenship Ministry announced the payment schedule of the third installment of the original benefit. The ministry had previously delayed the payment of the second installment originally scheduled for the first half of May.
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