Brazilian government's approval rating falls to 10 pct

Brazil's President Michel Temer gestures during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, March 7, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

BRASILIA - The approval rating for the government of Brazil's President Michel Temer has fallen to just 10 percent, with 55 percent actively disapproving of its management, a new poll by the Ibope polling company showed on Friday.

It is a downturn from December's poll, which found a 13 percent approval rating and a 46 percent disapproval level.

Temer's personal approval rating stood at 20 percent, with 73 percent disapproving of him and 7 percent not answering. Just 17 percent of respondents said they trusted the president.

In comparison to the government of his predecessor, Dilma Rousseff, 18 percent said Temer's administration was better, 41 percent said Rousseff's tenure had been superior and 38 percent found them the same.

Temer succeeded Rousseff last year, provisionally in May and definitively in August, when she was impeached by the Senate for fiscal irregularities.

Among those who dislike Temer's government, 26 percent gave their main reason as his proposed social security reform, 9 percent spoke about the Operation Lava Jato (Car Wash) anti-corruption investigation, and 5 percent said it was due to corruption in the government.

The poll was carried out by Ibope between March 16 and 19, interviewing 2,000 people in 126 municipalities nationwide, with a margin of error of 2 percent.