Kazakhstan: Pension plans darken a grim picture
The government appears eager to shed an onerous and unrewarding responsibility: managing its citizens’ pensions.
Authorities in Kazakhstan are set once again to tinker with how pension funds are managed. And if social media and news website comment boards are any indication, people are livid.
Since 2013, pension contributions have been held in an entity called the Single Accumulated Savings Fund, or ENPF in its Russian initials. The fund comprises 10 million accounts worth a total of 9 trillion tenge ($25 billion) and is managed by the National Bank. Now, the government is talking of reverting to the pre-2013 arrangement, wherein the money is managed by private-sector operators.
The reform is outlined in the National Bank’s strategic plan for 2017-21. The vision as outlined is for contribution-payers to choose investment funds for themselves and decide how best their money should be invested.
Read more Eurasianet
