November 2022

Italy to Boost Pension Spending in Bid to Keep Up With Inflation

Italy’s pensions will increase by 7.3% from next year to keep up with rising inflation, Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday. The boost to retirement payments, which is automatic in contrast to wage hikes, will bring relief to households hit by soaring energy costs in the European Union’s third-biggest economy but may further complicate the European Central Bank’s efforts to rein in consumer prices. Overall, spending on pensions will increase by more than €50 billion ($50.4 billion) through 2025, the...

UK expected to raise state pensions, benefits in line with inflation

Britain is expected to increase state pension and welfare payments in line with inflation in next week's budget, the Times newspaper reported. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the increases to ensure that the Nov. 17 budget is seen as fair and compassionate, the report said. The government will set out its fiscal plans in an effort to rebuild investor confidence after a "mini-budget" earlier this year caused borrowing costs to surge. New finance minister Jeremy Hunt will seek...

State and Local Pensions: What Now?

By Alicia H. Munnell In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause. Alicia H. Munnell draws on...

Trends in State and Local Pension Funds

By Oliver Giesecke & Joshua D. Rauh Unfunded public pension obligations represent the largest liability for state and local governments in the United States. As of fiscal year 2021, the total reported unfunded liabilities of these plans is $1.076 trillion. In contrast, the market value of the unfunded liability is approximately $6.501 trillion. As a result, the reported funding ratio of 82.5% falls to 43.8% under a market-based valuation. The market values reflect the fact that accrued pension promises are...

Chile’s Boric announces plan to end private pension system

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to reform the country’s controversial private pension system. In a televised address, Boric said he was planning to end Chile’s Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) system in lieu of a new private-public social security system that would see new contributions from employers and the state. “The AFPs, in this reform, are finished,” Boric said, adding that new private entities would still be allowed to invest pension funds, but there will also be...

October 2022

Ghana. Public Sector Workers warn government not to touch pension funds in debt restructuring

The Forum for Public Sector Associations and Unions has asked the government not to apply a “haircut” to Tier 2 Pension Funds as part of a “probable” debt restructuring programme. The Forum said it had taken note of media reports suggesting that about 94 per cent of Tier 2 Pension contributions placed in government securities might be affected by the said debt restructuring agenda. At a press conference in Accra today, Thursday, October 20, 2022, Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Chairman of...

Liz Truss commits to triple lock but then resigns as UK’s Prime Minister

The prime minister has resigned after 44 days in the role. In a statement outside 10 Downing Street today (October 20), Liz Truss said: “I came into office at a time of great economic and political instability…I cannot deliver the mandate.” Read also U.K. Pensions Doom Loop May Not Be Over Truss was told to quit by senior Tory members, according to the FT, the day after the home secretary, Suella Braverman, quit the government and used her resignation letter to issue...

UK. Pension triple lock at risk as Truss warns of ‘difficult decisions’

Number 10 has refused to commit to the state pension triple lock, after Liz Truss promised to keep the measure just weeks ago. Truss’ spokesperson refused four times to say Truss would uphold the triple lock, which would ensure state pension payments stay in line with inflation next year. New chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned yesterday that public spending is not going to rise by “as much as people hoped” and he today told cabinet ministers to “find efficiencies” in their departments. Hunt...

September 2022

Pensions in Egypt increased by 50% in recent years: Social solidarity minister

Pensions in Egypt have increased over the past three years by nearly 50 percent, and the minimum pension currently is EGP 916 per individual, Egypt's Minister of Social Solidarity Nevine El-Qabbaj said on Wednesday. El-Qabbaj made the remarks during the launch of the activities of the 6th Arab Pensions Conference that was held under the theme ‘Arab Pensions Outlook 2050 – Change and Opportunity’ in Sharm El-Sheikh. Pension systems play an important role in the Arab world and globally in providing...

Ireland to increase state pension for those who work beyond 66

Ireland will offer anyone over 66 a higher state pension the longer they stay in work, sidestepping a recommendation by a government-appointed commission to gradually increase the retirement age to 68 to help fund the ageing population. Under the proposed flexible model agreed by ministers on Tuesday, people will have the option from 2024 to continue working up until the age of 70 in return for a higher pension for each additional year they work. The state pension currently stands at...