Minha Casa, Minha Vida is Key to Brazilian Economic Success, Says Rousseff
In her weekly radio show, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has stated that 2012 will see further governmental priority towards the My House, My Life (Minha Casa, Minha Vida) programme – particularly for families earning up to 3 times the national minimum wage (R$ 1,600) per month.
“Investments in residential construction benefit all Brazilians as it is a sector that generates many jobs. Keeping the employment market balanced in this way will help the country against the effects of the global economic crisis that is affecting the USA and Europe,” she stated whilst confirming that 309,000 employment positions had been created in the real estate development sector in 2011.
Nevertheless, whilst referring to the 354,000 housing unit authorisations that had occurred this year, little was mentioned of the ongoing difficulties being confronted by the sector related to achieving market viability nor the fact that all of the projects being constructed are catered to the Brazilian middle classes and above (earning R$ 1,600+) as opposed to the significant numbers of people living in favelas and other forms of insalubrious accommodation (real housing unit demand for this demographic is estimated at between 15-30 million). She also ignored the difficulties that the construction labour market has been confronting throughout 2011.
Please see an article published on the Brazil Max magazine site in November 2011 which discusses how Rousseff´s desired sentiments for the affordable housing sector are not so clear cut when considering the practical application of the programme.
[...] confirmed by President Dilma in her recent national radio broadcast, the affordable housing programme forms a fundamental part of Brazil´s imminent economic growth. [...]