BRASILIA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's President Michel Temer signed on Wednesday a loan of 102 million reais (32 million U.S. dollars) for the federal police to begin emitting new passports. This essential procedure was suspended in late June due to a lack of funds.
The government hopes that the ID documents will begin to be printed again as soon as on Friday.
On June 27, the day before school holidays began, the federal police announced it was suspending the emission of all new passports due to being strapped for cash.
This immediately provoked a crisis situation with the Temer government since official data shows around 11,000 passports are emitted a day in Brazil.
Last year, the federal budget attributed around 578 million reais (182 million U.S. dollars) for passports, but it seems much of these funds were not used to continue the service.
The federal police has not explained where this money went, stating only that this sum was added to the national budget and was not immune to Temer's major federal budget cuts.
To obtain a passport, Brazilian citizens must pay 257.25 reais (81 U.S. dollars), followed by a usual waiting time of six working days.
Police have also complained that cuts to their budgets have seen highway police significantly reduce their operations along highways, while other services have also suffered.
In late 2016, the Brazilian government passed a stringent budget law, capping federal spending for 20 years and allowing it to increase only following the rate of inflation.
A single purchase
