Zema proposes a 1,000-real savings account for every newborn, funded by fighting corruption

Romeu Zema wants every child born in Brazil to start life with a 1,000-real savings account. The presidential candidate says the measure would cost the federal government about 2.5 billion reais a year and would encourage Brazilians to build financial reserves.

“

If we clean up one percent of corruption, that is already enough to do this.

Asked where the money would come from, Zema pointed to his campaign’s anti-corruption agenda. “If we clean up one percent of corruption, that is already enough to do this,” he said in an excerpt from an interview with Record television. He did not specify a particular funding source or explain how the contribution would fit into the federal budget.

Zema said most Brazilians do not have a savings habit. “Most Brazilians do not have any kind of savings, and sometimes it is the opposite, unfortunately, they have debts,” he said.

“

Most Brazilians do not have any kind of savings, and sometimes it is the opposite, unfortunately, they have debts.

Under the proposal, the money would remain invested over the years in assets linked to company shares. Beneficiaries would be able to follow the growth of the funds, which Zema described as “financial learning in practice.”

“

Financial learning in practice.

In the same interview, Zema dismissed the importance of opinion polls and criticized Alexandre de Moraes. “It is grounds for imprisonment. It is not grounds only for impeachment,” he said. He also sought to distinguish himself from Flávio Bolsonaro, saying: “In Novo there are only people with clean records; in the PL, there are not.”

“

It is grounds for imprisonment. It is not grounds only for impeachment.