Brazil poll shows disapproval of President Temer growing

Disapproval of President Michel Temer's government is rising as he seeks to restore Brazil's fiscal discipline via unpopular austerity measures, with his government now barely more popular than that of his ousted predecessor Dilma Rousseff, a poll published on Wednesday said.

Pollster MDA said the number of people who consider Temer's government "bad" or "terrible" has risen to 36.7 % from 28 % in a previous poll in early June, while those who rate it as "great" or "good" has edged up to 14.6 from 11.3 %. Disapproval of the way Temer himself is governing has also grown, rising to 51.5 % from 40.4 % in June, three weeks after he took over from Rousseff who was impeached and dismissed for breaking budget laws.

Temer has launched an unpopular austerity drive to balance Brazil's overdrawn government accounts and is seeking congressional approval for a cap on public spending. His government's popularity has also been hit by corruption allegations against several of its members.

A majority of those polled (58 %), however, believe Temer has enough support in Congress to win approval for changes he has proposed to plug Brazil's widening fiscal deficit, mainly reform of the country's costly pension system. In the poll commissioned by the national transport lobby CNT, MDA surveyed 2,002 people between Oct. 13 to 16. The poll has a margin of error of 2.2 %age points.