Brazil markets cheer as pension reform passes congressional hurdle
APRIL 23, 2019 / 8:32 AM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Marcela Ayres, Jamie McGeever, Maria Carolina Marcello
3 MIN READ
BRASILIA (Reuters) - 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.
The benchmark Bovespa stock market index chalked up its best day in three weeks, closing 1.4 percent higher at 95,9234.24 points, while the real bounced back from a four-week low of 3.96 per dollar to end the day stronger at 3.9217.
After President Jair Bolsonaro’s government made several minor changes to the bill late on Monday, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee (CCJ) finally analyzed the social security reform bill on Tuesday. Local markets closed before the vote on the bill’s constitutionality, which is expected to take place later on Tuesday evening.
But investors were cheered by the fact that the vote was scheduled at all - it was postponed last week - and the signal from CCJ committee member Marcelo Freitas that the bill’s targeted savings of just over 1 trillion reais ($255 billion) over the next decade had not been diluted.
More:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/brazil-markets-cheer-as-pension-reform-passes-congressional-hurdle-idUKKCN1RZ1FD
(Too bad they aren't choosing to explain what this really means to the large majority of Brazilian people.)
