OECD demands explanations from Brazil for budget cuts in Lava Jato operation.

247 - The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has questioned the Brazilian government about the budget cuts that have affected the Lava Jato Operation investigations since last July. Brazil will have to provide explanations during a meeting convened to discuss the matter on October 17th.

The meeting was requested by the OECD Working Group on Corruption, whose central focus is combating corruption and money laundering. Although Brazil is not a member of the OECD, the country is evaluated by the international organization.

"We would like to invite countries with recent events that could potentially impact the implementation of measures to combat bribery," the OECD said in an email published by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo. "The countries concerned are the United Kingdom, Norway, and Brazil," the text adds.

The budget cuts implemented in May by the Michel Temer government reduced the operation's operating costs by 44%, in addition to causing a decrease in the number of teams working on the task force. The cut in Curitiba, the operation's main hub, was so severe that it led the Federal Police to dismantle the teams involved in the investigations.

At the time, the Temer government denied that the cuts would result in the weakening of the investigations.