20.11.201718:28:00UTC+00BRAZIL: House Floor To Start Vote On Pension Reform Bill By December

Rodrigo Maia, the Brazilian House of Representatives Speaker, will submit the pension reform bill to a floor vote next week or by the first week of December, said the country's Finance Minister, Henrique Meirelles.

"Then it will be a fast-track process to conclude the first and the second round vote this year," said the Finance Minister, adding that there is still uncertainty regarding the Senate's timeframe to vote on the bill.

"If it is possible to vote [in 2017], great, but the important thing is to get the House approval this year," he said.

According to Meirelles, Arthur Maia, the representative in charge of the pension reform bill to the House floor, "is working intensely" to present a reformulated version of the draft text by the end of this week.

The Minister also added that the only alternative to the pension system reform is to balance public revenue and expenditures.

"It is important to clarify that we will have to avoid an increase in Brazilian public expenditures."

Meirelles was again questioned if he will be one of the presidential election candidates in 2018. He answered that currently he is focused on the economic growth and reaffirmed that any answer regarding that topic would only come in April.

"If the economy is starting to grow and people start to think about other things, that is bad for everyone, including to my legacy."