Brazil's Rousseff's popularity rises in poll as economy stumbles

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's popularity recovered from a recent drop caused by massive street protests as the government tried to deal with the sluggish economy and concern that inflation will rise, the Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reported on Friday.

Those Brazilians who consider Rousseff's administration "excellent" or "good" rose to 38 percent from 31 percent a month ago, the paper said, citing a poll conducted by Ibope public opinion research agency for the National Confederation of Industry.

The poll is the third to be released by the CNI and Ibope since a wave of protests began in June in several Brazilian cities against hikes in bus fares, poor public services, corruption and government spending on the soccer World Cup.

Since the protests have died down Brazil's currency has extended year-to-date declines to as much as 15 percent, fueling concern about inflation and a $60 billion currency intervention program aimed at halting the slide.

The central bank has already moved to fight inflation by raising interest rates, a move that could choke off economic growth.

Rousseff's excellent or good rating was 54.2 percent in June, the newspaper said, citing Ibope and CNI.

The poll showed the percentage of people who rated Rousseff's government "bad" or "terrible" fell to 24 percent from 31 percent from July. The percentage who considered Rousseff's performance "average" was unchanged at 37 percent.

Ibope conducted the poll among 2,002 Brazilians between August 15 and August 19. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

(Reporting by Jeb Blount; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazils-rousseffs-popularity-rises-poll-economy-stumbles-003359327.html

Leyla Ghobadi Dodgers brawl Sebastien De La Cruz farrah abraham national weather service superman man of steel superman man of steel