Brazil minister: Slash in Bolsa Família program membership aims to prevent fraud

Brazil's Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said that the removal of beneficiaries from the government's national Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer initiative aims to prevent fraud in the program. The measure was based on recently conducted auditing, he said.

“Bolsa Família is essential. We are just preventing fraud cases. Fraud and social policies are not to be confused with one another,” the minister said, adding that “the most long-lasting policy is the generation of employment.” He spoke at a public hearing with the Senate's Commission for Economic Affairs (CAE) Tuesday (Oct. 31).

Meirelles pointed out that employment generation policies are the government's tool to “provide people with adequate living conditions.”

When asked about the chances Brazil may return to the Hunger Map, Meirelles said “what drove Brazil to this situation was recession” caused by a drop in employment and income in the country.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira

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