BRASILIA ¨C Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pledged swift and sweeping measures to fix the economy and ward off what he said was a risk that Latin America¡¯s largest nation turns into a Venezuela-style regime.
Plans to sell a large number of state-owned companies are nearly ready, and a proposal to be sent to Congress will bring ¡°substantial¡± cuts to pension outlays and establish a minimum retirement age, Bolsonaro said on Wednesday in Davos, Switzerland, in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. He said the approval of the pension reform investors are eagerly awaiting is practically certain as Brazil¡¯s financial situation gives it little choice.
The government expects to raise $20 billion from privatizations this year, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said in a separate interview with Bloomberg TV in Davos. In addition, reform of the pension system would help slash the budget deficit from around 7 percent of GDP to zero this year.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.