This week, we talk about how Brazil’s government is failing to get relief to people and companies. How the coronavirus might be reaching regions less prepared to deal with it.
Brazil’s struggle to get emergency money to those in need
The Covid-19 crisis has proven how inefficient Brazil’s labyrinthine bureaucracy can be. After approving an emergency BRL 600 salary for informal workers and single mothers, the government now must figure out how to make the money reach beneficiaries. According to the Institute of Applied Economic Research, almost 20 percent of those targeted by the emergency assistance are not enrolled in the government’s database for social programs — adding up to some 11 million people being unaccounted for. The pandemic has exposed that a sizable portion of society has no formal relationship with the state.
- Since the 1970s, the Brazilian government has created sectorial databases that mostly do not dialogue with one another. These silos of information carry political power with them, and groups that control them want them to remain as insular as they are.
Why it matters. In times of crisis, the government’s ability to make an inflow of money to keep the economy alive is drastically reduced.
- According...