Brazil's government may restrict the transfer of pension rights to relatives of deceased civil servants, Folha de Sao Paulo reported on Sunday, to limit what has become a major drain on public coffers. Folha said the government could require relatives of the deceased to prove they cannot provide for themselves and limit the duration of pension entitlements to curb payments that swallow 11 percent of the country's GDP.
The paper did not say how it obtained the information, but said the proposals were being drawn up by the Social Security ministry and would be sent to the presidency for consideration before an eventual congressional vote.
The average monthly pension for civil servants in Brazil is 6,200 reais ($3,974), nearly 10 times that of the private sector. The government will fork out an estimated 77 billion reais ($47 billion) this year to make up for a shortfall in the pension pot.
That sum is expected to more than double in the next 10 years.
Under current rules, pension rights are transferred for life regardless of the financial circumstances of the beneficiary, giving rise to a growing trend of young women marrying retired civil servants to secure perpetual benefits.