BRAZIL: Changes To Pension Reform Still Under Discussion, Says Minister

(RTTNews) - There are still uncertainties regarding the new proposal to reform the Brazilian pension system, according to the country's Finance Minister, Henrique Meirelles.

On Thursday, Arthur Maia, the lawmaker in charge of presenting the pension system reform legislation to the House floor, said that the new version of the bill would drop some of the most controversial points of the current proposal.

One of the clauses that would be eliminated, according to Maia, dictates that Brazilian workers must contribute to the government's social security fund for at least 25 years to be eligible for retirement payments - way more than the 15 years under the current legislation.

Meirelles, however, said after a meeting with Maia and other lawmakers that there is no decision on that topic yet. He added that Maia vented the idea of keeping the contributing time unchanged.

According to Meirelles, the government would welcome changes to the current pension reform bill if the new version results in significant cuts to public spending.

"The important thing is that, for any change, there has to be a calculation [regarding the public expenditure]," said the Finance Minister, adding that he expects the new version of the bill to save more than R$ 400 billion in the next two decades.