House Speaker proposes ‘pandemic fund’ for emergency salary and vaccines

After a meeting with state governors, House Speaker Arthur Lira will propose a BRL 30 to 50 billion “emergency fund to fight the pandemic.” The measure would support the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, as well as the payment of emergency aid benefits. 

During the lunch meeting, governors asked Mr. Lira to revive the so-called “War Budget,” a measure instated in 2020, creating a parallel budget that allows for increased pandemic spending without infringing on fiscal responsibility rules. 

Mr. Lira said that he intends to help the governors, but on three conditions: that governors mobilize to allocate more resources “respecting the budget ceiling,” convince lawmakers to spend their parliamentary grants on pandemic-related issues, and that any revenue surplus should be invested in this new “emergency fund.”

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