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October 31, 2017 at 12:35 PM
As hopes fade that Brazil will fix its costly and inefficient pension system before next year’s presidential election, Schroders PLC is already eyeing the exit.
“Pension reform is a key to Brazil getting their medium-term fiscal house in order,” said Jim Barrineau, co-head of emerging-markets debt at Schroders, who said he’ll cut his overweight position on local debt should the revamp stall. “Without it, there is almost no path to stabilizing debt-to-GDP ratios over a five-year time frame and we would expect the country to be a candidate for a credit rating downgrade.”
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Brazil’s stocks, bonds and currency declined last week as President Michel Temer, whose drive to revamp pensions has enraged voters, obtained a smaller margin than markets anticipated to defeat a second attempt to try him for corruption. Lawmakers voted 251 to 233 to block the charges, below the 257 votes that JPMorgan Chase & Co. termed the lowest level for a positive result.
The real dropped yesterday, leading losses among major currencies, as markets priced in increased political risk and slimmer chances the pension bill will pass before the election.”We had previously argued that the chances of significant reforms to the pension system had fallen to something like 50/50,” Capital Economics analysts led by Neil Shearing wrote in a note after last week’s vote. “This now looks too generous.”
