RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has one last chance to stem a growing political and economic crisis before being forced to step down, one of the country’s leading daily newspapers said yesterday.
In an unusual front-page editorial, Folha de S.Paulo said Rousseff needs to take “drastic measures” including additional spending cuts and tax hikes to make up for a 2016 budget gap that has cost Brazil its investment-grade rating from Standard & Poor’s.
Rousseff, a leftist who was re-elected by a thin margin in 2014, is facing impeachment calls as her government struggles with a deep economic recession and a massive corruption scandal at state-run oil company Petrobras that has implicated several of her political allies.
In a cabinet meeting on Saturday, Rousseff ordered her ministers to find an additional 15 billion reais ($3.9 billion) in budget savings, daily Estado de S.Paulo reported yesterday.
