Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz InácioLula da Silva faced off in a final debate before their runoff election on Sunday, focusing mainly on economic hardships.
It is an issue that could sway some of the few undecided voters in the tight race between the far-Right incumbent and the Leftist challenger who clashed on Friday nightin a broadcast on the nation’s biggest TV network.
Da Silva, also known as Lula who seeks to return to the job he held from 2003 to 2010, once more pledged to boost spending on the poor.
He also highlighted thatBolsonaro’s government hasn't yet provided an increase to the minimum wage above inflation.
“This man governed for four years and there was not1 per cent of a real increase,” da Silva said at the TV Globodebate in Rio de Janeiro. He said the minimum wage is now worth less than when Bolsonaro was inaugurated.
Bolsonaro quickly promised to lift the minimum wage from $229 a month to $265 next year, though that wasn’t included in his 2023 budget proposal sent to Congress.
