{
  "id": 15110588,
  "title": "Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro pledges fiscal adjustment, rejects cuts to social spending",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/brazils-flavio-bolsonaro-pledges-fiscal-adjustment-rejects-cuts-to-15110588",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-17T02:17:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today-freemalays",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/world/2026/10/17/brazil-s-flavio-bolsonaro-pledges-fiscal-adjustment-rejects-cuts-to-social-spending"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Brazil's Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, pledged on Friday that if elected president, he would aim to tackle Brazil's growing public debt without sacrificing socially sensitive spending commitments. The right-wing lawmaker is currently leading the polls against incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will face him in a runoff election on October 25. In an interview with TV Globo's Jornal Nacional, Bolsonaro dismissed reports that his campaign was considering measures such as halting real minimum wage increases, eliminating automatic adjustments for social benefits, or reducing mandatory social expenditures. The senator emphasized that the fiscal adjustment would come from eliminating ministries, addressing mismanagement within state-owned enterprises, and monetizing federal real estate assets. Bolsonaro addressed the issue of false news circulating and stressed the importance of clarifying the facts. Instead of reversing a recent constitutional amendment that shortened the workweek from six to five days in Brazil, Bolsonaro said he would not pursue such a reversal. Brazil's gross debt has increased by more than 10 percentage points during Lula's term, now standing at 82.9% of GDP, while long-term interest rates have decreased since Bolsonaro's victory in the first round of the election.",
  "summary": "The senator says the adjustment would come from eliminating ministries, tackling mismanagement at state-controlled firms and monetising federal real estate assets.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Free Malaysia Today",
        "title": "Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro pledges fiscal adjustment, rejects cuts to social spending",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/brazils-flavio-bolsonaro-pledges-fiscal-adjustment-rejects-cuts-to-15109038",
        "published": "2026-10-17T02:17:44.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Investing.com",
        "title": "Brazil’s Flavio Bolsonaro pledges fiscal adjustment, rejects cuts to social spending",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/brazils-flavio-bolsonaro-pledges-fiscal-adjustment-rejects-cuts-to",
        "published": "2026-10-17T02:24:39.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}