Former Brazil's President and current presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Sao Paulo Governor candidate Fernando Haddad greet supporters during a march in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 17, 2022. (REUTERS/Carla Carniel)
SAO PAULO: Brazil's leftist presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is leading President Jair Bolsonaro with 48.1% voter support against the incumbent's 41.8% ahead of an October 30 runoff vote, according to a CNT/MDA poll.
Considering only valid votes, which exclude null and blank ballots, Lula reached 53.5% voter support against Bolsonaro's 46.5%.
The survey was conducted on October 14-16 and has a margin of error of 2.2 percentage points up or down.
Both candidates in Brazil's presidential runoff election this month have offered relief for unpaid debts weighing on family finances and hurting economic growth.
But economists and bankers say their solutions are minor band-aids compared to the impact of overextended consumers on Brazil's economy - and lenders themselves are finding new ways to renegotiate delinquent debts and lift that overhang from credit markets.
With nearly 70 million Brazilians blacklisted by credit agency Serasa, owing 290 billion reais ($54.4 billion), debt relief is smart politics in a closely fought presidential campaign, ahead of an Oct. 30 runoff vote.
Right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attacked each others' records in office in the first debate of the second round of Brazil's election.
Reflecting a fiercely polarized race that has been largely devoid of policy debates, the two candidates fell back often on personal attacks during two hours of debate on TV Bandeirantes.
Lula said half of the 680,000 deaths caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil could have been avoided if not for delays in the purchase of vaccines by the government of Bolsonaro, who minimized the gravity of the virus and pushed unproven cures.
