More than 60 million Brazilians are due to go to the polls on Sunday in a second and final round of voting for state governors.

Brazilian governors have considerable spending and tax-raising powers and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is hoping that victories by his allies will help him to push through an austerity programme designed to rescue the country's battered economy.

In the first round of the general elections three weeks ago President Cardoso sailed to a comfortable victory but in 13 of Brazil's 27 states the race for governor has yet to be decided.

Powerful and influential

Governors are powerful people, with considerable influence in Congress and a large pay-roll of civil servants and Mr Cardoso is keen to enlist their support - so much so that he postponed the announcement of his austerity package in order not to damage the chances of his preferred candidates.

But recent opinion polls from the most important states have not made altogether comfortable reading for him.

In the capital, Brasilia, in Rio de Janeiro and in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, the left-wing opposition has a good chance of victory.

In the country's second largest state, Minas Gerais, the winner seems almost certain to be Itamar Franco, a former president who has grown increasingly critical of Mr Cardoso.

Focus on Sao Paulo

But by far the most important race is in Sao Paulo, home to a population and economy about the size of Argentina's.

Here the omens are much better for the President.

The frontrunner, Mario Covas, is a social democrat with the reputation for fiscal austerity.

His rival, the right-wing populist Paulo Maluf, is also in theory a government supporter but his presidential ambitions and record of free spending make him a dangerous ally.

The two candidates are old enemies and have fought a campaign marked by bitter personal insults.