In today’s issue: Military privileges jeopardize Brazil’s pension reform. Jair Bolsonaro’s fall from grace among middle-class voters. House approves full foreign ownership of airlines.
Military privileges jeopardize Brazil’s pension reform
When President Jair Bolsonaro presented his pension reform bill—the harshest and most ambitious in recent memory—he said everyone would have to make sacrifices. But yesterday, when he presented the plan to overhaul military pensions, it was clear that the burden won’t be shared equally. Mr. Bolsonaro’s proposal creates savings of BRL 97bn in 10 years—but was accompanied by a bill creating a system of training bonuses for the military, which reduces total savings to only BRL 10.4bn over the next decade. The core changes are:
- Minimum length of service goes from 30 to 35 years;
- The rate of pension contributions paid will rise to 10.5% (from 7.5%), over a transition period of 3 years;
Bonuses for training and “availability” would raise monthly incomes of high-ranked officers by up to 76%. - The military pension system was supposed to unclog discussions about the general reform in Congress—the government’s top priority for 2019. But it will actually become a problem, as congressmen could feel entitled to benefit...