Brazil Candidate for Speaker Vows to Protect Spending Rule
- Government-backed Arthur Lira backs emergency bill, reforms
- New heads of Brazil house and senate to be elected in February
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The candidate backed by President Jair Bolsonaro in the race for the lower house speakership pledged to protect Brazil’s spending cap rule, seen by investors as an anchor to the nation’s fiscal austerity drive.
Arthur Lira would, if elected, secure a constitutional amendment with mechanisms to cut expenses if needed to comply with the spending ceiling, he said in an interview Monday. The proposal, known as emergency bill, was set to be voted late last year before being put on hold by the government amid pushback from lawmakers. He would also push to create a new social program within the constitutional limit for public expenditures.