Brasília, 12/18/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva administration has managed to reach the end of the year with high approval ratings and a public that is optimistic about next year.

Between September and December, Lula's approval rating rose 6 percentage points, closing out at 68%, the highest level since March.

However, the approval rating of the government fell 9 percentage points during the same period, from 75% to 66%.

As for next year, 84% of those interviewed said they thought things would be better in 2004.

The survey was run between December 4 and 8, in 145 municipals where 2,000 people were interviewed. (AB)