Bolsonaro boosts Auxílio Brasil, but reduces other social programs

With an eye on the reelection campaign, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) boosts Auxílio Brasil, but the government accumulates negative results in other social programs.

The budget for housing, health and education of the poorest population has undergone successive cuts throughout the Bolsonarista administration.

PT brands, such as Farmácia Popular and Fies, have seen a drop in their budgets since Bolsonaro took office. Even the Casa Verde e Amarela program –a showcase created by him in the construction of housing– was not spared.

The reduction in resources for these projects in the social area has consequences. The number of houses delivered in the Bolsonaro years declines. The number of accredited pharmacies to serve the low-income population also dropped.

The exception is the income transfer program, Auxílio Brasil, created last year to give Bolsonaro a social legacy and replace the strong PT brand of Bolsa Família.

In a coalition between the economic team and the political wing of the government, Auxílio Brasil was designed to break records of families served and amounts transferred, even if this requires circumventing public spending control rules.

In yet another of these agreements, the government hopes to approve this week a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that creates new social benefits, despite legal limitations in an election year, in addition to increasing the value of Auxílio Brasil to R$ 600 and zeroing the program queue.

Meanwhile, the main initiative in recent years to try to reduce the country’s housing deficit faces a very different scenario. Casa Verde e Amarela has a budget of R$ 1.2 billion this year – the smallest in history.

From 2009 to 2018, the average allocated to the predecessor of the housing program (Minha Casa, Minha Vida) was close to R$ 12 billion per year.

In the first year of the Bolsonaro government, the president received a budget providing R$ 5 billion for these projects aimed at housing for the low-income population.

With the budget squeeze, fewer housing units are contracted to be built. That’s about 350,000 a year under Bolsonaro. Between 2014 (when the situation of public accounts worsened) until 2018, there were 438 thousand per year, on average.

Regarding the houses delivered, there are 410 thousand a year in the current government. Between the reelection of former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) and the period of Michel Temer, the average was 544 thousand per year.

“Due to the budget constraint scenario, the Casa Verde e Amarela program was impacted, as were other government programs”, says the Ministry of Regional Development, responsible for managing this area.

The ministry says, then, that it started to prioritize the completion of works that were paralyzed – of the 180,000 housing units that were stopped, 130,000 were resumed. In addition, it promoted a cut in the program’s interest to the lowest level in history.

Bolsonaro’s brand in the housing area, however, ended the Minha Casa, Minha Vida range, which served lower-income families and who could sign contracts with a subsidy of up to 90% of the property’s value, without interest.

For Sérgio Praça, professor and researcher at the School of Social Sciences at FGV, President Bolsonaro prioritizes the Auxílio Brasil program because it is a social expenditure capable of generating electoral dividends more immediately.

“He [Bolsonaro] is the face of Auxílio Brasil, the face of this increase [no benefício]. So he manages to take high political credit for it. Maintain the budget of other programs [sociais] it would be great for the population, but it has less impact on the political campaign,” said the professor.

With the PEC and the previous expansions in the income transfer program, the president, according to Praça, is trying to crystallize the scenario that the race for the Planalto Palace will continue to the second round – despite the advantage of former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. (PT) in polls of intention to vote.

Created to distribute free or discounted medicines to the low-income population, the Popular Pharmacy program was reduced under Bolsonaro.

Since 2020, the first year of the pandemic, there are about 20 million beneficiaries in the program. This represents 1.2 million less than the previous year. Coverage was already 22.8 million under Temer.

The Popular Pharmacy distributes basic medicines free of charge for hypertension, diabetes and asthma through private pharmacies. Medicines to control rhinitis, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis and glaucoma, in addition to contraceptives, are sold at a discount of up to 90%.

The number of pharmacies also dropped to around 30,000 units. At the beginning of the current government, there were 31 thousand. In 2015, the height of the service network, there were 34,600 pharmacies.

The Ministry of Health says that “there was no reduction in the program’s budget, considering the amounts provided for in the LOA [ou seja, no Orçamento]”,

However, due to inflation, the reduction in funds reaches almost 25% compared to 2018. The resources, adjusted for inflation, fell from R$ 3.2 billion to R$ 2.4 billion (estimated amount for this year of election).

The Health Ministry reinforces that the program aims to complement the distribution of medicines, whose main access is through Basic Health Units or municipal pharmacies.

In the educational area, Fies –a program to encourage the access of the low-income population to Higher Education– also lost ground. The budget for this initiative was reduced from BRL 22 billion in 2018 to BRL 5.5 billion this year.

Sought, the Ministry of Education did not comment on the cut.

Technicians say that Fies grew in a disorderly way under Dilma and, because of the crisis in public accounts, stricter rules for granting financing were adopted under the Temer government. The objective is to reduce default.

In the program, part of the tuition fees of students at private universities are paid by the government. In return, recipients must repay the funding after graduation.

Since 2020, the number of signed contracts has been practically half the number of vacancies offered.

Major government social programs

Brazil aid

• How it works? Beneficiary receives monthly amount to overcome poverty or extreme poverty
• What has happened in the Bolsonaro government? The program replaced Bolsa Família and, since it was created, has been prioritized. It is the bet of the political wing to leverage the reelection campaign. Number of families served and the amount transferred have broken records and should register new marks after the PEC that releases billions for social benefits.

Green and Yellow House

• How it works? Low interest financing for housing construction, especially for low-income populations
• What has happened in the Bolsonaro government? Program replaced Minha Casa, Minha Vida. But funding has been reduced in recent years and is the lowest in history in 2022. The number of units contracted and delivered fell under the current management, despite the cut in interest rates.

Popular Pharmacy

• How it works? It distributes basic medicines free of charge for hypertension, diabetes and asthma through private pharmacies. Medicines to control rhinitis, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis and glaucoma, in addition to contraceptives, are sold at a discount
• What has happened in the Bolsonaro government? Program funds have not been adjusted for inflation since the beginning of the current administration. As a result, the budget has lost 25% in recent years. Number of beneficiaries of medicines and number of pharmacies fell

Fies

• Which is? Program for granting funding to higher education students
• How it works? Government pays part of tuition and student pays off funding after graduation
• What has happened in the Bolsonaro government? The program’s budget has been drastically reduced in recent years due to stricter rules for granting funding