(Bloomberg) -- Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s pension reform cleared its first legislative hurdle in a much-delayed congressional committee vote, renewing hopes that the former Army captain can put the economy back on track.

After a sometimes tense debate that lasted more than eight hours, the Lower House Constitution and Justice Committee voted 48 against 18 that the bill is constitutional and can proceed in Congress. The vote took place after the government bowed to centrist party demands and altered several points of the bill.

Bolsonaro still faces a long road to get final approval for the proposal that is to fix the country’s battered public accounts and help cut public debt. Months of debate and no fewer than six votes in both houses of Congress lie ahead before the bill can become law. There are signs the drawn-out process is already wearing on financial markets, as local assets have given up some gains recorded after the bill was introduced in February.

As a constitutional amendment, the pension bill will eventually need the support of 308 of the country’s 513 deputies in two separate floor votes and then 49 of its 81 Senators in two additional votes. Vice President Hamilton Mourao said in an interview this month he expects the proposal to be approved by August.

To contact the reporter on this story: Samy Adghirni in Brasilia Newsroom at sadghirni@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Raymond Colitt at rcolitt@bloomberg.net, Matthew Malinowski

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.