The move, announced on 23 August, comes a day after the government said it would sell its controlling stake in Eletrobras, Latin America’s biggest electricity generator.

Fernando Coelho Filho, state minister of mines and energy, told Reuters that the sale of the stake in Eletrobras could raise up to R$20bn ($6.3bn).

Among the 57 state assets that will be auctioned off are port terminals, energy transmission lines, major highways and São Paulo’s city airport, Congonhas.

Officials also intend to sell the minority stakes that the government-owned airport operator Infraero holds in Brasília, São Paulo’s Guarulhos, and Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão.

Finance minister Henrique Meirelles also said the government may privatise the lottery unit of state-run bank Caixa Econômica Federal.

In addition, it emerged on 23 August that the Brazilian government had abolished the national reserve status of a swathe of land between the northern states of Amapá and Pará to open it up for commercial mining.