Lula announces measures for micro-entrepreneurs in Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Tuesday presented a bill focused on financing and debt forgiveness for the country's micro-entrepreneurs, according to the portal Banca y Negocios, twelve days before the runoff election.

During a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasília, the president detailed that the initiative includes new low-interest credit lines backed by a state guarantee, as well as a plan to forgive the financial obligations accumulated by self-employed workers.

According to the Banca y Negocios report, these debts total about 12.6 billion reais (equivalent to about $2.5 billion or 2.25 billion euros) and affect 3.6 million people. The bill also proposes to gradually raise the annual revenue ceiling for remaining in this category, from the current 81,000 reais (about $16,000) to 140,000 reais (nearly $28,000) planned for 2028.

Among the measures presented to Congress, the plan includes a scheme of direct transfers of up to 5,000 reais (about $1,000) for entrepreneurs who meet the registration requirements in the sector. The announcement adds to a series of economic initiatives pushed by the executive branch since the first round of voting, in which Lula will face Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in the runoff on October 25. Bolsonaro won 47% of the votes in that first round.