Bankers cheer end of Brazil pension saga

Bloomberg

Brazil’s top banking executives were unanimous in cheering the approval of a long-delayed pension overhaul — and quick to line up what they think should be the government’s next priority.
With the top item on their wish list now crossed off after years of debates, bankers from Itau Unibanco Holding to Banco BTG Pactual are now championing reforms to the rules
governing civil servants’ costly benefits, including changes to compensation, productivity metrics and dismissal policies.
“The social security reform, now approved, together with the administrative reform which will be discussed next year, mark the final steps of financial stabilisation which began in 1994,” said Roberto Sallouti, CEO at BTG. “The country can now focus on the productivity agenda, improving GDP per capita and the lives of Brazilians.”
Brazil’s Senate gave the final go-ahead to the legislation, which establishes a minimum retirement age and restricts access to some social benefits, seen as needed to fix the country’s deteriorating fiscal accounts.