The government of the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, today announced an update of 15% on the Bolsa Família, the main social program for transferring income to the poorest, 17 days from the general elections of October.
© Lusa
17/09/2026
by
Lusa
O minister of Planning and Budget, Bruno Moretti, denied that this increase, which should benefit more than 19 million families, has any relation to the elections, in which the country's main polling institutes give Lula technical draw and the opponent Flavio Bolsonaro.
Since the Bolsa Família was relaunched in 2023, the program has not undergone updates and, according to Moretti, the measure aims to restore inflationary losses since then until August this year.
“ We needed the clarity that we have tax space available. We identified and came to give the tranquility that we had the ability to readjust”, Moretti said.
The impact of the update on public coffers will be 5,8 billion reais (about EUR 975,49 billion) this year, and 22.7 billion reais (EUR 3,81 billion) in 2027, explained Bruno Moretti.
An increase in the Bolsa Família was not included in the Annual Budget Law Project of 2027, elaborated by the Palácio do Planalto and addressed to Congress in August for vote.
Asked about this point, the minister explained that there was already a previous request from the Government to implement this update, but that there was now “tax space”.
The Attorney General of the Union (AGU), the Ministry responsible for defending the interests of the federal government, released a statement to explain that updates to the programme, based on inflation indices, are provided for in the law of 2023 and that there was no expansion of the target public.
“ It is therefore outside the reach of any electoral seal, as assessed by the National Chamber of Electoral Law of the Consulting General of the Union of the AGU ", reported.