São Paulo – The government announced this Friday (22nd) afternoon, in Brasília, a cut of R$ 69.946 billion (US$ 22.8 billion) in the 2015 budget. This cut is part of an effort by the government to reach, at the end of the year, the primary surplus of 1.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This surplus is the savings done by the government to pay its bonds.
The majority of the cuts will affect investments planned on the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC, in the Portuguese acronym) and earmarks presented by congress members. The PAC should have R$ 25 billion (US$ 8.1 billion) slashed, and the earmarks, approximately R$ 21 billion (US 6.8 billion).
The minister of Planning, Nelson Barbosa, when talking about the budget cuts, said that all ministries will contribute with the “efforts” to contain government spending.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
