Halister News

--ELIZABETH FOURNIER

(Bloomberg) -- Moody’s expects Brazil’s pension reform to be approved “some time this year” as it would probably be “very difficult” to pass initatives through Congress in 2018 before the elections, analyst Samar Maziad said in an interview.

• “That is also the expectation of the government”
• If pension reform is too diluted, Moody’s would expect to see other reform proposals being put on the table
• Revision of the fiscal deficit target to 159 billion reais would not be significant
  • “The deficit we had forecasted was already high” Maziad said
• “Very significant” fiscal slippage, weakening growth and issues holding back the reform agenda could trigger a downgrade
  • Delays on the pension reform agenda may be negative
• Resumption of the fiscal reform agenda and passing a strong social security reform would contribute to improve Brazil’s credit profile
• NOTE: May 26, Moody’s lowered Brazil’s rating outlook to negative

To contact the reporter on this story: Aline Oyamada in Sao Paulo at aoyamada3@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Giulia Camillo at gcamillo@bloomberg.net Ney Hayashi

--NEY HAYASHI