The Brazilian government on Monday launched a package of measures designed to boost the pace of economic growth in the country through a combination of private and public sector investment generated by tax breaks and increased public spending.

The headline numbers in the package – which has been repeatedly delayed since president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s re-election in October – were bigger than expected. It includes R$6.5bn ($3.1bn, €2.4bn, £1.6bn) in tax cuts and rebates this year, rising to R$11.5bn from 2008. The new spending will also be funded, in part, by cuts in the government’s budget surplus.