Brazil pension reform debate expected to widen in Senate

Submitted by dfabbri on Mon, 08/12/2019 - 11:15
Body

Reuters (08.08.2019) Brazil’s Senate is expected to consider extending pension reform to states and municipal governments as it moves to vote on a bill overhauling the social security system, lawmakers said on Thursday. FILE PHOTO: Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes

Global challenges
Document Type
Description/integral text (Internal-not for publishing)

enators could also take up a plan for individual retirement accounts, which Economy Minister Paulo Guedes had hoped to introduce but was dropped from the bill to ensure final passage in the lower house of Congress on Wednesday.

President Jair Bolsonaro celebrated the progress on his cornerstone economic proposal. Addressing reporters, he asked the Senate to pass the bill as is, saying follow-on proposals could be included in a “parallel” bill.

Guedes and his team want the Senate to reopen debate on privately-managed retirements accounts based on worker and employer contributions, an Economy Ministry official told Reuters. The so-called “capitalization” model, adopted in other countries such as Chile, could eventually replace the current pay-as-you-go state pensions system.

But the ministry source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said any new items, including extending pension reform to state and municipal governments, would have to be proposed in separate legislation.