Bolsonaro Lets Workers Dip Into Severance Fund to Boost Growth
- Workers can withdraw 500 reais from savings fund from Sept.
- Govt hopes for 0.35 percentage-point GDP boost over 12 months
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Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro will allow workers to access cash from their severance funds, in an attempt to boost an economy teetering on the edge of recession.
Workers will be allowed to withdraw 28 billion reais ($7.4 billion) from their so-called FGTS savings fund this year and another 12 billion reais in 2020, according to an official announcement made Wednesday at the presidential palace in Brasilia. The government hopes the measures will increase GDP by as much as to 0.35 percentage points over the next 12 months.