Bolsonaro: President had been taking a stand against the extension of emergency aid, which ended in December (Marcos Corrêa / PR / Flickr)
THE emergency aid has put almost 300 billion reais in the economy since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. With the end of payments, in December last year, the return of the benefit is the topic that is under debate within the federal government. For 66% of Brazilians, the program should return this semester. Another 19% believe that only after June.
The data are from the unpublished survey EXAME / IDEIA, a project that joins Prime Time Zone Research, EXAME’s investment analysis arm, and IDEIA, a research institute specialized in public opinion. The survey heard 1,200 people between 9 and 11 February. The margin of error is three percentage points higher or lower.
The survey also asked Brazilians whether the aid should be repaid at some point. Of the total respondents, 48% believe that they do, 23% consider that they do not, and another 30% do not know.
President Jair Bolsonaro has given signs this week that the benefit may return. On Thursday, 11, he said, at an event in Alcântara (MA), that the government is considering renewing emergency aid. The payment could start in March and would be made in three or four installments. But for that, he said that “fiscal responsibility” is needed. The big question is not to break the spending ceiling and to further increase the gap in public accounts, which already exceeds 700 billion reais.
The EXAME / IDEIA survey also questioned Brazilians about the most important points to assess the government of President Jair Bolsonaro. For 27%, the return of the aid is crucial for government approval. Increasing the speed of vaccination against covid-19 is the most important item for 73% of Brazilians when evaluating the president.
“A critical variable in Jair Bolsonaro’s assessment is emergency aid. Among the poorest, 56% of respondents believe in the return of the benefit. This pressure of popularity linked to the theme should be accentuated in the next surveys, when we will not have payments planned ”, evaluates Maurício Moura, founder of IDEIA.
Government assessment
With the slow pace of vaccination and without a clear definition as to whether emergency aid can return, President Jair Bolsonaro’s assessment stands at 27%. The percentage indicates a slight drop since the last EXAME / IDEIA survey at the end of January, when it was 29%. The fluctuation is within the survey’s margin of error, which is three percentage points, so it is considered stable.
Disapproval went from 42% to 44%. Those who neither approve nor disapprove were 24% in the last survey, and now add up to 26%.
“President Jair Bolsonaro’s assessment remains stable, fluctuating in the margin of error. It is important to note the vulnerability that presents itself in the Northeast, with 21% approval and 46% disapproval. The effect of the end of the aid was certainly already felt in this region ”, says Maurício Moura.
All the results of the EXAME / IDEIA survey will be discussed by a group of experts this Friday, 12th, starting at noon, in a room on the Clubhouse platform. Click here to access.
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