Brazil's Temer boosts infrastructure spending as graft scandal deepens

FILE PHOTO: Brazilian President Michel Temer looks on during a credentials presentation ceremony for several new top diplomats at Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Picture

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's government has sharply increased spending in local infrastructure projects proposed by lawmakers, according to budget data reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday, as a graft scandal threatens to topple President Michel Temer.

Federal spending on infrastructure works and other projects this year sponsored by congressmen for their constituencies jumped to 5.2 billion reais (£1.2 billion) in June, up from 959 million reais the month before, the data showed.