Trying Wall Street’s Patience, Brazil Postpones Pension
Brazil is trying Wall Street’s patience.
Last Wednesday, the Senate was scheduled to vote on a much touted, and much needed, pension reform bill. Then it was postponed to Thursday. It didn’t happen on Friday. It is now supposed to go up for a vote on Tuesday, Senate leaders said.
The market for Brazil equities has been in a holding pattern all week waiting for this vote; a vote that is supposed to be a lopsided win for president Jair Bolsonaro who made pension reform one of his premier economic policies for his first year in office.
Last week’s vote was upheld due to a number of vetoes sent back on other measures. The bill is sitting in the Justice Committee, led by the Democratic Movement Party, a non-ideological party that is mostly aligned with Bolsonaro’s reform agenda.Today In: Money
Regardless, there is a growing rift between Bolsonaro and some members of the majority parties. Some have gone off on their own, splintering from the president while not joining forces with the left.
“These big reforms need a very focused and powerful push from the president to keep them on track,” says Kevin Ivers, vice president of the DCI Group in Washington DC handling Latin America political risk. “(Bolsonaro) has been focused on ideological and cultural fights. The public, too, is starting to get frustrated.”
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