MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Temer submits pension reform bill: retirement age raised to 65

Government figures show the average age of retirement in Brazil is 58, among the lowest in the world.

Brazil's President Michel Temer submitted a crucial bill to Congress that would raise the retirement age to 65. The draft bill, part of a pension reform plan, would apply to all men under 50 and women under 45, following 25 years of contributing to social security.

 “Men over 50 and women over 45 will be included in a transitional system, under which they will be subjected to a 50% increase on their remaining contribution time,” according to the government news website. Government figures show the average age of retirement in Brazil is 58, among the lowest in the world.

Those who have already retired and are receiving a pension will not be affected if the bill passes.

”The first core principle (of the reform) is totally respect for all acquired rights,“ Marcelo Caetano, the Finance Ministry's Secretary of Social Security said.

The bill includes automatic adjustment of the retirement age if life expectancy in Brazil, which is now 83, rises, with the government foreseeing two such adjustments by 2060.

Pension reform is expected to reduce the country's ”social security costs by 700 billion Reais in the first 10 years after approval,” or 205 billion US dollars.