MEF: pension reform would be undermined by measures promoted by Congress

The Minister of Economy and Finance, Alex Contreras, He expressed his rejection of the approval of a Recognition Bond promoted by a sector of Congress. Said measure would be added to a new extraordinary withdrawal from AFP, a few months after the pension reform that the Executive seeks to implement.

Recently, the MEF warned that the approved Recognition Bond could lead to all the contributors of the National Pension System (SNP) being transferred to the Private Pension System (SPP), leaving the public pension system without contributors, and that would mean that the complete payroll of pensioners must be financed by the Public Treasury.

“I ask the congressmen to make the decision not to approve this measure, because first it does not benefit, but rather generates more concentration. The people who would go to the private sector would start saving with zero, and that bonus would be S / 3,600 that they would receive in the end, when they turn 65, putting them at risk and generating additional costs, for example, for Pensión 65,” said Contreras Miranda.

In this sense, the minister said that the national system has 406,000 affiliates aged 65 or over, who could transfer to the AFP, which would immediately cost S/ 4.7 billion in the first year.

“It must be recognized that there is a good intention, but I ask the Plenary to wait a couple of months until they have the reform [del Ejecutivo]. Congress already has its pension reform commission, the Executive too, there is a proposal from the BCRP, one from the private sector, etc. Let’s agree to this reform and not get ahead of ourselves,” he invoked.

There are multiple proposals regarding the case. For example, the BCRP proposes that both the public and private systems establish a minimum pension based on the years of contribution of the member. The AFP Association agrees with this vision and considers that the existence of a minimum social protection floor related to avoiding poverty in old age should not be neglected.

“The worst thing is to do nothing or let ourselves be carried away by measures that continue to violate the pension system. At this time, Peru needs consensus at the level of the powers and that many of these decisions are made by listening to technical decisions, that they listen to the BCRP or SBS because that way there can be more plurality and reach optimal measures for the population,” he earlier signed for Radio Nacional.