Brazil must reform or become next Venezuela, says Jair Bolsonaro

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro pledged swift and sweeping measures to fix the economy and prevent Latin America’s largest nation from turning 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 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.

 

“There’s an awareness in Brazil that the reforms are vital for the federal entities to continue operating,” he said. “Brazil has to work out. If not, the Left will return and we won’t know Brazil’s destiny, maybe it’ll become more like the regime that we have in Venezuela.” With global investors excited by the prospect of a market-friendly Brazil, the new president promising to cut taxes and slash red tape in a brief speech.  While Brazil’s potential raised interest in the sale of state assets and the possibility of greater trade remains intense, investors are starting to demand more specifics from the new administration. Following a 20 per cent rally since Bolsonaro’s first round victory, Sao Paulo stock market gains have taken a pause.

 

Some of the privatisation plans have begun to emerge in recent days but a pension reform proposal will only be presented to Congress in mid-February, and it may take many more months to pass. Markets are eyeing the pension reform closely because of its potential to help narrow a gaping budget deficit.