Brasilia, August 19 (RHC)-- Interim President of Brazil Michel Temer reaffirmed his commitment to promoting business and private investment when he spoke to some 800 businessmen and women in the civil construction sector.  At the ceremony, President of the Brazilian Construction Industry Chamber, Jose Carlos Rodrigues Martins, expressed support for the measures adopted by Temer to reduce public spending as well as the government's severe austerity measures.

Rodrigues Martins further argued that "legal security and... better regulations" are all that's required in "a state that ... doesn't have the ability to invest."  The relationship between Temer and the private sector is partly rooted in the composition of the cabinet of Brazil's Senate-imposed president, which includes several ministers and business leaders embroiled in corruption scandals.

As soon as he took up Rousseff's position, Temer quickly initiated neo-liberal economic reforms including a constitutional amendment that would allow for the government to slash public spending and cap expenditure increases before paying debts.  And Temer also plans massive privatizations, which the right-wing opposition has long pushed for and will come at the expense of social programs initiated by the government's of Rousseff and her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.