Brazilian House speaker predicts pension reform vote on Tuesday

BRASILIA: Brazilian House speaker Rodrigo Maia said on Saturday he expects the lower Congressional House to begin voting on the pension reform bill on Tuesday.

After a meeting with Congressional leaders on Saturday in Brasilia, Maia said he will begin discussing the bill with party leaders on Monday and expects voting to begin late on Tuesday.

The pension reform, which will need to amend Brazil´s constitution, needs at least 308 votes in two voting rounds, equivalent to three fifths of representatives in the lower House.

Economy Minister Paulo Guedes has estimated that the plan to overhaul Brazil’s social security system could save as much as 3 trillion reais over 20 years.

The minister also advanced that he believes the government’s pension reform proposal, which many see as crucial to steadying the country’s rickety public finances, will be voted on in Congress within two to four month

Brazil’s currency, the real, weakened more than 1% to 3.9453 against the U.S. dollar, as traders cited worries that the government was struggling even with the preliminary steps toward passing the reform, which is seen as crucial to reining in a budget deficit and reigniting economic growth.