Rousseff’s Approval at Record Low in Brazil as Economy Slips

Rousseff’s Approval at Record Low in Brazil as Economy Slips
Carla Simoes Raymond Colitt/Bloomberg
September 30, 2015 — 10:26 AM BRT
Dilma Rousseff’s popularity remained at a record low in an Ibope public opinion survey as the Brazilian president seeks support to fend off impeachment attempts and to approve austerity measures needed to shore up public accounts.
Approval of Rousseff’s management was 14 percent , compared with 15 percent in June, a drop within the plus or minus two percentage point margin of error, according to the Ibope poll commissioned by the National Confederation of Industry, or CNI. Her government was rated good or very good by 10 percent of the 2,002 people surveyed between Sept. 18 and Sept. 21, compared with 9 percent in the previous poll.
Since her re-election in October, Rousseff’s support has plummeted as she backtracked on campaign pledges and adopted tax increases and spending cuts while the economy heads for the worst contraction in decades. Her tax policy was disapproved by 90 percent of those surveyed, the poll shows.
The survey comes as lower house chief Eduardo Cunha decides whether to accept requests by opposition parties to initiate impeachment proceedings. Her lack of support in the streets has fueled opposition to her government in Congress, where some lawmakers of her coalition voted against her economic plans.
Brazil’s economy will contract 2.8 percent and consumer prices will rise 9.46 percent this year, according to the latest central bank survey of analysts.