Brazil Congress Approves Spending Curbs as Debt Concerns Mount

Brazil is a big country whose government spends a lot of money and owes a lot of money.

The people who make laws in Brazil, called Congress, approved new rules to help the government spend less.

These rules slow down how fast the government's required payments, called mandatory spending, can grow.

That could save about 10 billion reais next year, which is about 1.94 billion US dollars.

The rules work like a speed limit: if the government predicts it will spend more than it earns, its new spending plans cannot grow too fast.

Brazil expects to spend 52 billion reais more than it earns this year, so the speed limit would start next year.

The rules stay in place until the government earns more than it spends for a whole year.

The new rules still need the President to sign them to become law.

President Lula is also running for reelection in October.