MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Congress upsets Rousseff: votes to boost pension benefits
Many lawmakers from allied parties, including from Rousseff’s own Workers’ Party, voted for the amendment, highlighting resistance to the austerity push Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff saw allies and members of her own Workers’ Party challenge her in Congress by voting in favor of boosting pension benefits.
The bill, approved late on Wednesday, could cost Brazil dozens of billions of dollars in the years ahead, jeopardizing government efforts to rein in spending excesses that threaten the country’s fiscal health.
The amendment, which makes the retirement age more flexible, still needs to clear the Senate and Rousseff could also veto it.
The defeat shows just how difficult it will be for Rousseff to shore up government finances at a time when her popularity is at record lows and she faces open revolt by members of her 19-party coalition led by Brazil’s largest party, the PMDB.
After approving a broader fiscal savings bill, the lower house of Congress passed an amendment that could raise pension outlays by 40 billion Reais (13.34bn dollars) in a decade, according to estimates by the Social Security Ministry.
Many lawmakers from allied parties, including some from Rousseff’s own Workers’ Party, voted for the amendment, highlighting strong resistance to an unpopular austerity push led by Finance Minister Joaquim Levy.
Although the changes would have little impact over the next five years, fiscal experts agree that it could raise the government’s pension bill by more than half a percentage point of Brazil’s gross domestic product over 25 years.
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Read all commentsThat's it Brazil. Keep building a welfare state that you can't afford and you aren't developed enough for.
May 16th, 2015 - 11:16 am 0It amazes me how some developing countries believe the hype and literally self-sabotage.
Brazil with 770% of Australia's population has a GDP only 144%!
Their inflation is sky high and their growth has tanked. They're in a recession.
And they're voting in more welfare? Which they can't fund.
They have higher taxes than Australia, higher deficits than Australia and a larger government debt than Australia.
When will Brazil realise it is a developing country and it can't afford to spend like this?
Who said this would happen..
May 16th, 2015 - 11:44 am 0me
They will always revert to type, they can't help themselves and the decade of growth was but an illusion.
Back to normal
Back to Statism
Back to Poverty for all.
We have the same problem here. Take take take and the welfare state doesn't want to work.
May 16th, 2015 - 11:48 am 0Much easier to block the roads and bang drums every few weeks to get what you want.
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