March 2020

17Mar

France. Macron Suspended Pension Reform and Delayed Second Round of Elections

France will be quarantined by noon on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement to the nation broadcast by the Elysee Palace. All residents are ordered to stay home and will only be able to leave their homes for substantial reasons. People's movement will be very restricted, Macron said. "We are at war," the French president repeatedly said. Macron announced a number of measures that put France in a martial law to combat the virus. Here are...

March 17, 2020
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04Mar

France. Macron’s pension reform survives two confidence votes

French President Emmanuel Macron's government has defeated not just one but two no-confidence votes, allowing it to force an overhaul of the retirement system through the lower house of parliament despite months of protests. Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other cities the day before the vote to denounce the pension changes, which they fear will oblige people to work longer for less money. Currently the eligibility age for a full pension is 62. As...

March 4, 2020
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02Mar

Macron Bypasses Lawmakers to Pass France Pension Overhaul

French President Emmanuel Macron moved Saturday to pass his pension overhaul without a vote in the legislature, seeking to brush aside tens of thousands of amendments filed by opposition lawmakers to slow debate. “It is clear that a discussion on the merits was never truly able to take place” in the legislature, Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said, invoking an article of the French constitution allowing the executive branch to bypass the legislature. “I deeply regret it.” The move...

March 2, 2020
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02Mar

Argentinean House of Deputies approves changes to privileged pensions

After a heated debate between the ruling party and the opposition, the Argentinean House of Deputies passed a draft bill to modify the pension system for judges and diplomats. Although the voting resulted in 129 votes in favor and none against, the legislative debates were heated. The bench of Juntos por el Cambio denounced 'irregularities' to gather the necessary quorum to debate the draft bill, due to the presence of lawmaker Daniel Scioli, who made it clear that he...

March 2, 2020
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February 2020

28Feb

Greek parliament approves pension bill

Greece’s parliament on Thursday approved a pension bill that introduces more flexibility for the self-employed over contributions and incentives to stay working longer on a promise of higher pensions. The new framework, that also creates a digital social security registry, was approved by a majority of lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament. Read also Greece. Parliament opens debate on new social security bill The conservative government says workers and employers stand to benefit from the reforms, which are intended to safeguard the system's...

February 28, 2020
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27Feb

France shows slow progress of pension reform in parliament, raising concerns of Macron imposing it by decree

Discussions in France's National Assembly on the pension reform bill are continuing this Wednesday amid tensions delaying the progress of debates, marked by the opposition's rejection of the bill. Since February 17, the government initiative to establish a universal points-based system is on the daily agenda of the National Assembly. The mechanism used in the sessions by France Insoumise members and communists has been to introduce over 30,000 amendments in order to obstruct the bill, which is one of...

February 27, 2020
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26Feb

Greece. Parliament opens debate on new social security bill

Greek lawmakers started debating on Tuesday evening a social security bill, which Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis describing it as a "watershed" law that will affect current and future generations. Earlier, the minister tabled an accompanying actuarial report which he said "proves the [draft] law's viability until 2070." "The law has come to restore injustices of the past and to align with constitutional order and restore SYRIZA's Katrougalos law, which contravenes the constitution," Vroutsis said, adding that during the...

February 26, 2020
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22Feb

Japan’s Public Sector Balance Sheet

By Yugo Koshima This paper compiles and reviews the evolution of Japan's Public Sector Balance Sheet (PSBS). In the past, large crossholdings of assets and liabilities within the public sector played a role in sustaining a high level of public debt and low interest rates. The Fiscal Investment and Loan Fund (FILF) channeled all postal deposits and pension savings to financing of public sector borrowing. After the FILF refrom in 2000, however, the Post Bank and pension funds shifted their...

February 22, 2020
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19Feb

Athens Gridlocked as Transport Workers Strike Over Pension Bill

Traffic in parts of the Greek capital came to a standstill on Tuesday as Greek transport workers joined a 24-hour public sector strike over pension reforms. Buses, trolleys, trams and metro transportation will be out of operation for the day. Also Read Greece. Pension hikes to come in June Workers from the Athens suburban railway Proastiakos and intercity trains announced late on Monday that they will also participate in the strikes. Public hospitals will operate on skeleton staffs, as the...

February 19, 2020
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18Feb

French MPs begin debating controversial pensions bill

The battle over the French government's pension reforms moved from the street to parliament on Monday, with the opposition vowing to torpedo an overhaul that sparked weeks of strikes and protests. Leftist unions are up in arms over President Emmanuel Macron's bid to fuse France's 42 different retirement schemes into a single points-based system. Also Read A low birth rate and a rapidly ageing population: Europe’s demographic crisis explained Public transport workers walked off the job for a month...

February 18, 2020
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