Brazil’s Bolsonaro aims to save $270bn on pensions in a decade
Proposal for social security is the cornerstone of president’s plan to close unsustainable public deficit and bolster a sluggish economic recovery
Brasilia — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro delivered his proposed pension overhaul to the Congress on Wednesday, aiming to save more than 1-trillion reais ($270bn) in a decade by changing tax rates, delaying retirement and creating individual savings accounts. The proposal for social security is the cornerstone of the new president’s plan to close what credit rating agencies call an unsustainable public deficit and bolster a sluggish economic recovery. The government pledged to present changes for military pensions that would save even more. Bolsonaro’s savings target is far more ambitious than the about 600-billion reais of savings in a decade proposed by his predecessor, Michel Temer, who eventually gave up on the unpopular austerity initiative. The new proposal was in the middle of a range that economy minister Paulo Guedes suggested in January: between 700-billion reais to 1.3-trillion reais of savings over 10 years. Brazil’s stocks and currency seesawed on the news, with the...
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