The Jair Bolsonaro government published three ordinances withdrawing more than R$ 1.2 billion ($ 229 million) from the FNDCT (National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development).
The action allowed extra room in the budget for the Ministries of Economy, Regional Development, and Labor and Welfare.
The FNDCT is an important mechanism to finance scientific and technological development. Part of this resource is intended for research institutes. Another portion comprises a credit aimed at companies wishing to conduct research.
The federal government had already tried to block the fund's resources on other occasions.
Folha contacted the Special Secretariat for the Treasury and Budget, an area linked to the Ministry of Economy and from where the ordinance was issued, but there was no response.
Translated by Cassy Dias