October 2020

08Oct

Ireland. State’s pension scheme for public servants ‘more sustainable’

Over 40% of the government's 345,000 employees now belong to the less generous pension scheme introduced for new entrants in 2013, according to an expenditure review issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform today. The review describes the introduction of the state's Single Scheme for public servants' pensions as "arguably the most fundamental reform to date" which is set to put the state pension bill on a sustainable footing. Before its introduction, there were fears...

October 8, 2020
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August 2020

24Aug

Philippines. Dominguez pushes for reforms in corporate pension system

The Capital Market Development Council chaired by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III is considering reforms in the corporate pension system, including the recommendation by the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines to require the partial or full funding requirement of retirement plans for private sector workers. Dominguez said over the weekend the council consulted the Department of Labor and Employment on FMAP’s recommendation. He said the recommendation would help provide sufficient funds for the pension or retirement plans...

August 24, 2020
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20Aug

A step closer to retirement reform in South Africa

By Jerry Botha, managing partner, and Jean Du Toit, head of tax technical at Tax Consulting South Africa As announced in the Budget Speech, any South African leaving in future will be subject to a much stricter process from 1 March 2021 onwards. But there was also a surprise 3-year lockup announcement for anyone with a South African pension fund, seeking to leave South Africa. This appears a sign of things to come for private pensions in South Africa....

August 20, 2020
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17Aug

Ireland. Kicking pensions can down the road will cost us all

During this pandemic the Government must not ignore the urgent need for pension reform. After protracted negotiations to form a new Government, urgent attention is now required to reform the pension system and protect the retirement security of future pensioners. The underlying issues are clear: our population continues to age; the cost of providing State pension support is growing; and the participation rates and adequacy of private pension saving remain too low. Experience shows that longer-term issues such as...

August 17, 2020
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14Aug

Public Pension Reforms and Fiscal Foresight: Narrative Evidence and Aggregate Implications

By Huixin Bi Sarah Zubairy We explore the evolution of pension policy across countries and investigate the macroeconomic impact of pension structural reforms in recent decades, in particular those with implementation delays. We first document chronological changes in pension policy for ten OECD countries between 1962 and 2017. The new data set uncovers that changes in pension policy come in waves, with a rapid expansion of pension systems between 1960s and 1980s followed by a wave of retrenchments since...

August 14, 2020
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13Aug

Call for urgent reforms to pension funds in Bahrain

The pension funds need to undergo urgent reforms in order to be saved before it’s too late. Social Insurance Organisation (SIO) chief executive Eman Al Murbati gave a presentation on the future of pension funds. Read also Switzerland. Pension reform initiative runs out of steam at early stage She was speaking at an event hosted by the National Communication Centre (NCC) as part of their ‘Conversations with a Government Official’ series. Read also Thai Airways must pay B5.4bn in pensions Ms...

August 13, 2020
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11Aug

Switzerland. Pension reform initiative runs out of steam at early stage

The campaigners announced they had failed to collect the required minimum number of signatures and saw no chances of doing so by the deadline in early October. “Without any doubt I have been miscalculating a few things. The coronavirus did the rest for us,” said the main promoter of the initiative. Josef Bachmann said citizens were aware of the flaws in the current system, but under the restrictions imposed to fight the pandemic, it was much more difficult to...

August 11, 2020
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04Aug

Greece. New pension reform in the pipeline

A new overhaul of Greece’s pensions system is being prepared, in which first-tier, or main pensions, will be higher and second-tier, or auxiliary, pensions will be invested, providing an element of risk. The proposal, prepared by a committee under Cypriot-British Nobel laureate Sir Christopher Pissarides, is expected to be made public Monday for public consultation before being adapted into a bill and tabled in Parliament. Kathimerini understands that there will be significant changes in the pension system’s structure. Specifically,...

August 4, 2020
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July 2020

28Jul

‘We’re Going for More’ Say Chileans After Pensions Reform Crosses Free Market Rubicon

Within minutes of Chilean lawmakers approving a bill that allows citizens to draw down 10% of their pensions to help make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic, a phrase started trending on Twitter: "We're going for more." The bill's authors insisted the raid on the private retirement system introduced in the 1980s under the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship was just an emergency measure but as it snowballed in popularity, so have the ambitions of those backing it. Lawmakers who voted...

July 28, 2020
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24Jul

Ticking Time Bomb: The Hidden Pension Deficit’ – Critical Study of Post Crisis Reforms and Financial Viability of Current Pension System

By Bhanu Laur Management of pension schemes has always been a difficult task for governments and the challenges that governments are facing today are growing faster than many countries anticipated. Pension plans have evolved overtime as public and private sector schemes slowly switching to PAYG system of funding and the uncertainty over current contributors’ future is growing. However, the recent financial crisis turned attention towards this hidden deficit of the countries where pension funds around the world lost significant...

July 24, 2020
Articles, System Sustainability,
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