Brazilian presidential candidate slams rival's economic plan

Brazilian presidential candidate Aecio Neves on Thursday criticized the economic plan of his rival Marina Silva as "unfeasible."

Neves, who lost his steady second place to Marina Silva in the polls in August, said Silva's plan would cost 150 billion reals (around 67 billion U.S. dollars).

"I respect Marina's good intentions, but her proposals are impossible to be carried out. Just do the math. It would mean an extra 150 billion reals in expenses in the following year only. How could one do that?" he said.

Brazil is already going through a recession due to unsatisfactory administration, and should not waste money on proposals which cannot be implemented, said Neves.

Commenting on the latest poll released Wednesday, which showed him a distant third runner after Silva and incumbent President Dilma Rousseff, Neves said: "There is a new campaign now. The only poll I care about is the one on the election day."

Since Silva's ascension from a vice president candidacy to a presidential candidate after the death of her running mate in a recent plane crash, her approval ratings have risen spectacularly in surveys.

The latest poll published Wednesday by the respected Ibope polling institute showed 46 percent of those questioned would vote for Silva, while 39 percent for Rousseff.