Bolsonaro’s R$2,000 Picanha costs 3 months of Auxílio Brasil

The last debate before the 1st round between presidential candidates on TV Globo this Thursday (29) was marked by attacks. In one of them, when talking about hunger in the country, Senator Soraya Thronicke (União Brasil) said: “there is a candidate who eats steak for R$ 2,000”.

The value for 1 kilo of meat generated controversy on social networks this Friday (30). Most Twitter posts show incredulity and associate the price with a candidate’s mistake.

The Planalto contender referred to the R$1,799.99 a kilo piece of Japanese wagyu cattle, displayed by Jair Bolsonaro (PL) at last year’s Mother’s Day barbecue at Palácio da Alvorada. Meat is considered a luxury item due to the high cost of its production.

A kilo of wagyu picanha costs the equivalent of three months of benefit from Auxílio Brasil, a bet made by the president to increase his popularity with low-income people in the reelection campaign.

The barbecue became known after Joás do Prado Pereira, known as Tchê, posted on his Instagram on May 9 of last year a photo with Bolsonaro and two packages of meat. The packaging featured a cartoon of Bolsonaro and his presidential campaign slogan.

At the time, a 350-gram piece of wagyu rump steak cost around R$600. According to the barbecue man’s photo, Mother’s Day at the official residence had at least two exclusive pieces of meat. This Friday, the report found the meat for R$ 1,069 a kilo, on the Meat Store website. In the same store, the kilo of the cut of another cattle goes for R$ 129.

Even if it is not a wagyu, beef is far from the shopping cart of Auxílio Brasil beneficiaries. Next to milk, the item was the one that most stopped being purchased by those who participate in the income transfer program, according to research released by Asserj (Association of Supermarkets of the State of Rio de Janeiro).

Until the end of this year, Auxílio Brasil will be R$ 600. Bolsonaro expanded the reach and value of the social program, formerly Bolsa Família, after the end of emergency aid at the end of last year, in a context of high inflation and an increase in of poverty and hunger. It is estimated that Brazil has 33.1 million people living in a situation of severe food insecurity.

To include the highest expenditure in the Budget, about R$26 billion, Bolsonaro’s team had to change the spending ceiling and circumvent electoral legislation. Even so, the benefit is seen as below what is needed by most of the population. According to a Datafolha survey, 56% of voters say the value is insufficient for survival.

In addition to the readjustment in the amount, Bolsonaro released, on the eve of the first round, payroll-deductible loans for beneficiaries of Auxílio Brasil. Credit, criticized by consumer protection organizations for the risk of over-indebtedness, is still not offered by banks.