Government to cut $1.24 billion from affordable housing program
Most severely affected should be the Minha Casa, Minha Vida affordable housing program, which is expected to lose $1.24 billion, Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa declared. 
Of the $6.73 billion announced today (Sep 14) by the government as part of the slash in the 2016 Federal Budget Plan, $2.22 billion will come from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC in the original Portuguese acronym). Most severely affected should be the Minha Casa, Minha Vida affordable housing program, which is expected to lose $1.24 billion, Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa declared.
The government's plan is to remove from the budget plan the expenditures that are entirely financed by the federal government and direct part of them to the FGTS (Guarantee Fund for Length of Service, in a literal English translation), formed with the contribution made by companies to compensate employees, which can also be used for buying a house.
With the change, the FGTS would account for part of the expenditures originally earmarked for the initiative, thus becoming part of the source of funding for the group of beneficiaries with the lowest income (up to $470 monthly) under the housing program.
Minister Barbosa added that the government will make changes to the budget in a bid to bring the spending predicted for health care to the minimum as established by the Constitution. The amount saved would total some $980 million. The goal is to transfer spending to congressional amendments, since 50% of it should be put towards health care.
With the announcement of the budget cuts for next year, the government expects to regain credibility among international investors, shaken as it was after ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered its credit rate for Brazil, removing the country's investment degree.
*Additional reporting by Paulo Victor Chagas and Mariana Branco
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Government to cut $1.24 billion from affordable housing program
