Brazil's real opens sharply lower on fiscal fear
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 4 (Reuters) - The Brazilian real slumped more than 1 percent early on Wednesday after the country's Senate rejected a presidential decree that cuts payroll tax breaks for businesses, threatening a crucial fiscal austerity plan announced by the government.
The real last traded at 2.955 per dollar, 1 percent weaker from Tuesday's close, after sliding to as much as 2.9697 in the first minutes of trading.
President Dilma Rousseff immediately responded to the Senate's decision last night by sending Congress a legislative proposal to trim tax breaks. Unlike a decree, however, that proposal needs to be approved by both chambers of Congress before taking effect.
(Reporting by Walter Brandimarte; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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