BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's Social Development Ministry said on Friday that a working group will propose measures by next week to stop people using their social benefit payments for online gambling.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's Bolsa Familia, a more than 20-year-old scheme, provides direct cash transfers to the poorest households at an annual cost of 168.6 billion reais ($31.04 billion), or 1.5% of Brazil's GDP.