Brazil Politics: Lula Government Weighs Options After Tax Defeat

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government is weighing its options after Congress overturned its decree increasing so-called IOF taxes on some financial transactions, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo.

The alternatives include taking the matter to court, seeking a new source of revenue or proposing new budget cuts, Haddad said, adding that the final decision is up to Lula.

The amount of budget funding that needs to be frozen could be 12 billion reais ($2.2 billion), Haddad said, with cuts that would lead to a lack of resources for health, education and ...