Presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) said on Thursday (17 Sept) that he will keep the Bolsa Família increase announced by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) if he wins the election. He made the statement in a livestream on social media, on the same day the raise was announced. According to CNN Brasil, the adjustment is 15.04%.
Before promising to keep the measure, Flávio attacked it. He linked Lula's announcement to the election polls, which, according to CNN Brasil, have shown the president trailing the PL candidate in the first round and in a possible runoff. "You think you're going to buy the poor person's vote? By giving 90 more reais to the poor?" he said.
Then came the pledge. "With me, Bolsa Família is guaranteed. I'll keep this raise, and I'll do much more than that. You all remember, who gave the 600 reais? It was president Bolsonaro," he said. He was referring to the 50% increase granted in 2022 by the government of his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, which lifted the floor of what was then called Auxílio Brasil from 400 to 600 reais, weeks before that year's election.
The raise, 17 days before the vote
Lula announced the adjustment on Thursday (17), 17 days before the first round, set for 4 October. It is the program's first increase in four years. The floor rises from 600 to 691 reais, and the average payment from 675 to 777 reais, according to BBC News Brasil. Bolsa Família is Brazil's main cash transfer program for low-income families.
The announcement revives the fight over social benefits in election years. In 2022, the Jair Bolsonaro government amended the Constitution, through the so-called Kamikaze amendment, to raise Auxílio Brasil by 50%. The Supreme Federal Court ruled the change unconstitutional in 2024. Lula, elected that year, kept the 600-real floor and restored the program's original name. Political scientist Rafael Cortez, of Tendências Consultoria, draws a distinction this year: the raise is allowed under the program's own law, which permits inflation adjustments. "The Lula government is more modest in this electoral voluntarism, but it still is a voluntarist move," he said.
The closing calendar
Other presidential candidates also criticized the measure. Ronaldo Caiado (PSD) called it an attempt to "buy votes for 90 reais", in an interview with Gazeta do Povo on Friday (18), reported by G1. Among Bolsa Família recipients, a BTG Nexus poll released on 14 September shows 73% of vote intentions for Lula against 23% for Flávio in a possible runoff. The first round is on 4 October, the new payments begin on 19 October and a possible runoff is scheduled for 25 October.