More than a month after a protest march to Brasilia was held to raise awareness over the current situation in the Brazilian shoe industry regarding job losses, organisers say that nothing has changed. They claim that the government has not reacted in the way that was hoped and protestors had to return home with nothing more than a request for patience.

According to the organisers, the government has not removed any obstacles, and has only implemented small measures in an attempt to placate those in the industry and that will not help to improve the situation. The measures taken include the release of R$400 million ($170 million) in special credit lines for over 3,000 companies to use as working capital, and two additional unemployment benefit payments for unemployed workers.

“Our main problems are the exchange rate, the extremely high tax load and the VAT credit that has not been refunded to companies for a long time. The situation is getting worse as each day goes by,” said Élcio Jacometti, president of the Brazilian Association of Footwear Manufacturers (Abicalçados).