Threats Remain to Brazil’s Pension Bill Despite Investor Cheer
While investors cheered the progress of Brazil’s key pension reform bill last week, there’s no certainty that its passage through the rest of the legislative process will prove smooth.
A day after the lower house special committee approved the text, President Jair Bolsonaro said there are some errors in the bill that need correcting. Members of his party, the PSL, are grumbling about the lack of special treatment for police. Meanwhile time is fast running out for a vote on the bill in the plenary before the July 18 recess.
The proposal to overhaul Brazil’s social security system is the centerpiece of Bolsonaro’s plans to cut debt and put Latin America’s largest economy back on track. First unveiled in February, the constitutional amendment seeks to save around one trillion reais ($261 million) over the next decade by establishing a minimum retirement age and toughening access to benefits. But it faces fierce resistance from opposition lawmakers who argue it entrenches yet further the country’s economic inequalities and even from members of the ruling party who want to make last-minute changes to the bill.
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