Weekly Report - 19 December 2013 (WR-13-50)

With the help of a small “bonus” worth R$2m (US$860,000) in amendments to members of the congressional budgetary commission, the legislature passed the government’s 2014 R$2.48 trillion (US$1.06tr) budget in the early hours of 18 December. Showing remarkable indifference to the Brazilian electorate’s diminishing tolerance for political parties’ slush funds, legislators added R$100m (US$42m) to the R$264m earmarked for political parties’ electoral campaigns, an increase of 37.9%. Four major public works projects were also green-lit by the congressional approval, but the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento (PAC), the pet project of the ruling Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT), saw its funding cut slightly. The minimum wage was also raised marginally.