Rio interim governor Ricardo Couto targets $5 bn cuts and statewide audits
Interim governor of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Couto, announced a plan to trim at least R$ 5 billion from the state budget by year‑end and to shrink the number of state secretaries from 35 to around 22‑23. He cited a projected R$ 19.5 billion deficit and said the cuts will involve entering the federal PROPAG debt‑renegotiation program, renegotiating private loans and seeking World Bank options to reduce financing costs.
Couto also ordered audits of every state secretariat. The investigations have already led to the arrest of Davi Perini Vermelho, head of the metropolitan institute Rio Metrópole, and Maurício Silva Knoploch dos Santos, father of a state deputy, among others charged with organized crime, corruption, bid‑rigging and money‑laundering. The audits are expected to uncover further irregularities across secretaries that were previously controlled by political allies of former governor Cláudio Castro.