Bolsonaro launches pension reform scandal with minister

BRASILIA

The Brazilian government unveiled yesterday the first orientations of a pension reform in which the new president Jair Bolsonaro played an important role in its credibility, while the ultraconservative alliance that had brought him to power was very tense.

Bolsonaro, who was released after 17 days of hospitalization for an abdominal operation, met in Brasilia with his super-minister of the economic zone, Paulo Guedes, and other members of the government to finalize, after weeks discussions, the final pension reform proposal to be presented to the Congress on 20 February.

At the exit, the Secretary of Pensions of the Ministry of Economy, Rogério Marinho, explained that the president had opted for a minimum age of 62 years for women and 65 years for men, with a transition period 12 years old. A proposal a little softer than that of Guedes, who wanted to impose a minimum age of 65 for all and a transition of 10 years. At the present time, there is no minimum age for retirement and, on average, men retire at age 56 and women at age 53.

The San Pablo Stock Exchange rebounded in the last hour after the announcement and closed with a gain of 2.27%. The real has also gained ground against the dollar.

Reform, required by investors to clean up public accounts, is expected to save $ 1 trillion in 10 years (about $ 270,000 million). Bolsonaro believes that the reform is necessary because otherwise, Brazil would go bankrupt in 2022 or 2023. The main private and public pension funds accumulated in 2018 a deficit of 292 billion reals (about 79 940 million dollars), or 4, 25% of GDP. In 2011, it accounted for 2.1% of GDP.

The launch of the reform comes when the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Gustavo Bebianno, was involved in an alleged project to launch candidates unknown to the Social Liberal Party (PSL, the party of Bolsonaro) for the sole purpose of receive funds. The President ordered that he be the subject of an investigation and stated that, if he was responsible for it, he would be removed from office. (AFP)