Reuters informs that newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will relaunch the Minha Casa, Minha Vida program this month, focusing on low-income buyers, said the Minister of Housing, Rui Costa on Sunday.
The Minha Casa, Minha Vida (“My house, my life”) programme aims to provide social housing solutions across Brazil. The first tranche of the program is for families with income of up to R$1,800 (€ 325). For them, a subsidy of up to 90% of the value of the property and the payment can be made in up to many monthly instalments over years of maximum amounts around R$270 (€ 50), interest free – the equivalent of 15% of the total income. In recent years millions of families have benefitted from the programme.
In an interview with GloboNews, Costa said that the launch will be in Bahia on February 14, as part of several trips that the president intends to make until March to launch programs that dynamize the economy and quickly benefit the population.
“The president will be in Bahia, in the city of Santo Amaro, inaugurating a housing complex and simultaneously other complexes in other cities, with broadcasts. There will be almost 3,000 units inaugurated on that day,” said Costa. “On the same day Lula’s government will also publish new guidelines of the Minha Casa Minha Vida programme,” he added.
Significant changes have been made to the predecessor programme of former President Bolsonaro. “The previous government had removed the first tranche, which is the solution intended for the most needy people, so we resume the program and will also give this start priority as well as to complete works that got delayed.”According to Costa, about 120,000 units of the first tranche have not been completed and will now be resumed. Following a government decision, the program’s budget rose from R$ 34.2 million to R$ 9.5 billion.
Loss of rhythm
The housing program in Brazil lost speed during in recent years due to high interest rates and inflation leading to falling income of the population. Some construction companies choose to reduce launches in this important social housing segment in the face of these developments. With the changes in the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme, an important stimulus package will promote housing for the less fortunate and contribute to solving housing problems in the country.
Housing minister Costa also defended that the tax reform that the government wants to see approved in Congress brings greater fiscal justice, reversing the framework of a greater collection of taxes on the poorest.
Sources: El Globo, Reuters, FDR, Noticias e Concursos, Brazil.
