Brazil Talk in 90 Seconds – The Pension System


Brazil Talk in 90 Seconds is a series of videos, one every week, with news analysis from Brazil. This week we talk about the reform of the pension system. On Wednesday, government officials met with members of Congress and union leaders to discuss seven proposals to pension reform. This is a very urgent and controversial topic because Brazil’s pension deficit increases by 50% every year. Yet, any reform that scales back benefits will be extremely unpopular, particularly in an election year and during economic crises. Moreover, the government does not have the support of President Rousseff’s own party – Partido dos Trabalhadores – and other parties on the left, which will make a reform less likely to be approved by Congress.