BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad will make a televised address to the nation at 8:30 pm (2330 GMT) local time on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding he will talk about “efficient government”.
Haddad is expected to lay out details of an eagerly awaited fiscal package with spending cut measures that was finalized in a meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva earlier this week.
Expectations regarding the package have been driving volatility in trading of the Brazilian real in the last few weeks, as investors wait to see if the measures would address concerns over Brazil’s fiscal stability.
Local newspaper O Globo reported on Wednesday that in addition to spending cuts, Haddad would also announce an income tax exemption to those earning up to 5,000 reais ($849.31) a month, from a current upper limit of 2,824 reais.
The Brazilian currency weakened more than 1% against the U.S. dollar in spot trading after the report, while local benchmark stock index Bovespa slipped 1.4%.
($1 = 5.8871 reais)
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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