BRASILIA, July 21 — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's low approval ratings rose for a third consecutive month, a poll showed yesterday, as the perception of his handling of the coronavirus crisis and the economy's direction continued to improve gradually.

The latest monthly XP/Ipespe poll findings come as the coronavirus-related deaths and cases also continue rising, cementing Brazil's place as the world's second-biggest hotspot for the pandemic after the United States.

Bolsonaro's overall approval rating rose two percentage points to 30 per cent this month, the highest since April, while the share of those who think he is doing a bad or terrible job fell three percentage points to 45 per cent, the lowest since April.

The share of Brazilians disapproving of the far right former army captain's government has consistently been greater than those who approve since May last year.

According to the nationwide poll, 25 per cent of Brazilians say Bolsonaro's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic is good or excellent, up from 23 per cent last month and the highest since April.

At the same time, 52 per cent said his handling of the crisis is bad or terrible, down from 55 per cent in June and the lowest since April.

One thousand people were surveyed between July 13-15, and the margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.

Brazil has now recorded 2.1 million cases of Covid-19 and almost 80,000 related deaths. Both tallies are the second highest in the world, and continue to rise steadily.

The XP/Ipespe poll also showed that 33 per cent of Brazilians reckon the economy is on the right track, up from 29 per cent in June.

Latin America's largest economy is widely expected to record its biggest annual downturn in history this year, although central bank and Economy Ministry officials say a range of indicators suggest an encouraging recovery is already underway. — Reuters