Good morning! The pension reform has been approved in the second House roll call vote. Problems with Brazil’s antitrust authority. And Jair Bolsonaro’s decree to reduce red tape—and hurt the press. Enjoy your read!
Pension reform gets second nod from House
After over six hours of debate, the lower house approved the pension reform bill in a second roll call vote. Today, congressmen will vote on proposals to amend the reform. House Speaker Rodrigo Maia, however, says that this part should be uneventful, as there is already a consensus around the most controversial points.
Why it matters. The pension reform is the core of the government’s economic agenda—and the first of several reforms investors hope to see Congress vote on. Unless it gets watered down, the reform allows for savings of BRL 933bn in ten years. By sending the bill to the Senate, the House can start focusing on a much-needed tax reform. Among several proposals, lawmakers have pushed forward one aiming at unifying taxes at the federal, state, and municipal levels of the public administration (our next episode of the Explaining Brazil episode, to be published this morning, brings an interview with one of the tax experts who drafted...