Brazilian House speaker Rodrigo Maia said over the weekend he expects the lower Congressional House to begin voting on the pension reform bill this Tuesday. After a meeting with Congressional leaders on Saturday in Brasilia, Maia said he will begin discussing the bill with party leaders on Monday and expects voting to begin late on Tuesday.
Brazilian markets rallied on Thursday and stocks hit the highest level on record, as the government’s cornerstone pension reform bill cleared a key congressional hurdle. The special pension reform committee in Congress passed the basic text by a vote of 36 to 13, and the reform bill could now be only two weeks from achieving full lower house approval.
Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president, likes romantic metaphors. “Our marriage is stronger than ever,” he said in May after the press speculated that he was at odds with the economy minister, Paulo Guedes. “The marriage ended with no hard feelings,” he said this month after sacking Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, a minister who had said that others in government should be more careful on social media—thus outraging Bolsonaro fans who tweet about the virtues of military rule and the horrors of homosexuality.
The Brazilian government’s plans to overhaul its pension system can still be saved if lawmakers reverse changes to transition rules and concessions to legislative aides, according to Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.
Brazil’s Economy Minister Paulo Guedes threatened to step down if his ambitious plans to overhaul the country’s social security system are watered down and diluted into what he called a “little reform.”
Brazil’s Economy Ministry on Thursday raised its projected savings from its pension reform bill over the next decade to 1.237 trillion reais (US$ 312 billion), well above the “minimum” 800 billion reais President Jair Bolsonaro said he expects.
Brazilian markets slumped on Wednesday, a day after a planned pension overhaul cleared a congressional hurdle following a lengthy debate that highlighted the government’s struggle to build support for its signature reform policy.
Brazilian markets rose on Tuesday after the path was cleared for a congressional committee vote on pension reform, a sign that the government is finally getting political backing for the most important element of its economic reform agenda.
Economists continue to slash their forecasts for Brazilian economic growth this year, according to a closely watched survey published on Monday, intensifying the spotlight on a key Congressional vote on pension reform later in the week.
Brazil's economic growth may accelerate to a 3.5% annual rate in the second half of the year after the approval of pension reforms, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said in an interview with TV channel Globo news.