The Brazilian government has threatened to scrap a social security amendment proposal after the country's Congress yesterday voted down a key payout-reducing provision in the proposal.
The amendment had been approved in a first-round vote in March. It linked public sector payouts to length of contributions - 35 years for men and 30 for women, and age - 55 years for men, 50 for women, as opposed to the number of years worked, which is the current link.
But Congress changed the reform so that it now only links those payouts to length of contribution. Without the reform's age requirement, more civil servants will be able to retire earlier, thus limiting the reform's major aim, which is to reduce payouts.
