The coronavirus pandemic has affected countries’ health systems and finances around the world. In Brazil, one perverse side effect has been increased social inequality, which had already been growing in recent years. To shed light on the causes of poverty in our country, Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Brazilian Institute of Economics (FGV IBRE) and the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper will hold a webinar called “The new peak in poverty and emergency aid” on February 25, starting at 10 am. The transfer of money to the most vulnerable people has been one of the main topics of debate on the government’s economic agenda during the pandemic. The event is free and it will be broadcast on FGV’s and Folha de S. Paulo’s YouTube channels and on FGV’s LinkedIn channel, as part of celebrations of FGV IBRE’s 70^th anniversary and Folha’s 100^th anniversary.

The speakers will be FGV IBRE researcher Daniel Duque, Professor Naercio Menezes of Insper and FGV IBRE researcher Fernando Veloso. The three are some of the Brazilian economists who specialize in data on the country’s labor market, inequality and productivity, so they are able to provide an in-depth explanation of the topic. Folha special reporter Fernando Canzian will be the moderator.

The pandemic, which is still out of control, is preventing economic activity from fully functioning and it is expected to cause GDP to shrink in the first quarter of this year. That is why it is essential for the government to find space in the budget to pay out a new type of emergency aid to boost, albeit modestly, the income of the most disadvantaged people.

According to data from FGV Social, the pandemic has pushed almost 27 million Brazilians below the poverty line. The governments’ emergency aid program ended at the end of 2020, and in January, 12.8% of people were in poverty, compared to 12.1% in 2011. These calculations show COVID-19’s impact on the country, including the accentuation of regional disparities.

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