Brazil's federal government began paying an increased Bolsa Família benefit on Monday and brought forward some payment dates so that all families receive the money by Wednesday, four days before Sunday's presidential run-off, The Rio Times reports, citing Poder360 and Metrópoles.
Payments are staggered by the last digit of each family's social registration number. The minimum monthly benefit has risen from R$600 to R$691 and the average from R$675 to R$777.
The Social Development Ministry said it moved to a single early payment schedule because of the El Niño weather pattern, pointing to more than 500 official emergency or disaster declarations in August and September. The same schedule will apply in November and December. The cash-transfer programme was revived in 2023 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who faces Flávio Bolsonaro in the vote on 25 October.
Source: The Rio Times
