April 2020

02Apr

US. Coronavirus Is Making the Public Pension Crisis Even Worse

For years, the country’s public pension plans have faced a yawning gap between what they owe and what they can pay. From the State of California’s public employees’ retirement plan, with more than 1.6 million participants, to tiny funds for employees of local mosquito-control programs in Illinois, public pensions are the time bomb of government finance. Now the coronavirus pandemic has it ticking faster. Already chronically underfunded, pension programs have taken huge hits to their investment portfolios over the...

April 2, 2020
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February 2020

24Feb

China’s state pension plan needs retooling as slowdown, ageing population hit retirement pot

China’s ageing population is increasing the pressure on the state pension deficit at the same time employers are falling behind on their contributions. A deeper economic slowdown could burn a bigger hole in the retirement pot, experts say. The cumulative balance in the pool stood at about 5 trillion yuan (US$712 billion) at the end of 2019, and the employers’ contributions were expected to fall short by 417.4 billion yuan due to measures to ease their burden, vice finance...

February 24, 2020
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17Feb

Ireland. Community employment workers strike over pensions

Hundreds of community employment scheme supervisors staged a strike over pensions in Dublin yesterday. So-called section 39 workers, whose pay was cut during the recession and was never restored, also joined the protest. Also Read Staff in 74 UK universities start 2-week strike over pensions These are people who work for organisations providing health and social services which are known as section 39 bodies. Community employment (CE) scheme employees and supervisors marched from the Custom House in Dublin to the...

February 17, 2020
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13Feb

South Africa. Trade union oppose plans to finance Eskom with pension fund

South African trade union Solidarity announced that it has started a legal process to stop plans to financing Eskom from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The union says it has written a letter to the GEPF as well as the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and it is demanding that the Trustees and the Board of these institutions should not accept the controversial plan to finance Eskom from the Fund. In the letter, Solidarity called the Trustees’ attention to...

February 13, 2020
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January 2020

28Jan

US. Public Pensions Reducing Fee Outlays to Improve Efficiency

Public retirement systems are squeezing down their expenses to operate more efficiently, according to an annual study by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. Read also 28% of Americans in Their 60s Are Extremely Short on Retirement Savings The 2019 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study, based on responses from 155 state and local pension systems, shows that trustees, managers, and administrators are working to ensure funds’ fiscal and operational integrity, according to Hank H. Kim, executive director and...

January 28, 2020
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23Jan

Pensions will win the election in Ireland

Longstanding plans to increase Ireland's statutory retirement age and the knock-on effects on pension payments have become an unexpected issue ahead of the Feb. 8 election, putting the government on the back foot. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called the election last week, but a pitch putting his diplomatic successes on Brexit at the center of the campaign has fallen flat with an electorate more concerned about deficits in housing and healthcare. The issue of pensions has dominated the campaign...

January 23, 2020
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16Jan

Public sector salaries and pensions rise in Uruguay

The Uruguayan government reported today that it decreed a salary increase of 8.7 percent for civil servants, whereas pensioners will receive similar benefits from this year. According to the presidential decree approved by the Council of Ministers, the specific figure is in line with inflation, to maintain real wages. Other data from the National Statistics Institute indicate that since 1998, civil servants of the central government have received the highest average pay rise, of nearly 40 percent. On the...

January 16, 2020
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15Jan

Spanish Government Gives Green Light To 0.9% Pension Increase

The first ministers cabinet meeting in Spain on Tuesday approved the rise in pensions by 0.9%. The increase will be applied retroactively from January 1 and will affect and will affect more than 10 million Spaniards, both contributory and non-contributory and passive class pensions. Read Also United Arab Emirates: The Introduction Of The DIFC Employee Workplace Savings Plan And Other Qualifying Schemes The 0.9% rise coincides with the average CPI estimate. If prices rise above that figure, the Government will compensate...

January 15, 2020
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December 2019

26Dec

Greek government planning pension rises for 450,000 recipients

After reversing itself and approving holiday handouts, Greece’s New Democracy government now said there will be hikes beginning in January 2020 to 450,000 main and auxiliary pension benefits. Who gets them and how much will be determined after a study for the Labor Ministry for the National Actuarial Authority, said Kathimerini in a report in which it said it was told by sources not identified that the hikes will be retroactive to Oct. 6, 2019, for 60,000 beneficiaries whose pensions...

December 26, 2019
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05Dec

Nigeria: Court Orders Govt to Recover Pensions Paid to Ex-Governors Who Serve As Ministers, Senators

The Federal High Court in Lagos in a landmark judgment has ordered the federal government to "recover pensions collected by former governors now serving as ministers and members of the National Assembly, and directed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN to challenge the legality of states' pension laws permitting former governors and other ex-public officials to collect such pensions." A certified true copy of the judgment delivered last week was obtained...

December 5, 2019
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