Economics
Brazil’s Far-Right Candidate Jair Bolsonaro Is Having a Bad Day
- Markets fell in part due to fears of his appetite for reforms
- Investors had been excited by Bolsonaro’s pro-market rhetoric
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An opinion poll showing Brazil’s far-right presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro with a commanding lead over his rival ahead of a run-off vote overturned what had been a difficult day for the former paratrooper.
Bolsonaro opened up a 16-point lead over his rival, Workers’ Party candidate Fernando Haddad, in a Datafolha poll published on Wednesday evening, with 58 percent of vote intentions versus 42 percent. The numbers provided a huge boost for the ex-Army captain after prosecutors announced a probe into a key adviser and Brazilian assets slumped, partly due to Bolsonaro’s lukewarm comments on privatization and pension reform.