Rostowski - Government will not ‘nationalize’ pension system
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
05.09.2013 13:03
Poland’s finance minister has rejected criticism that he wants to ‘nationalize’ the pension system, after it was announced on Wednesday that government bonds held by private pension funds would be transferred to the state pension sector.
Minister Rostowski on Thursday: photo - PAP/Paweł Supernak
“We will leave all share investment in the hands of pension funds and pension companies - we are not conducting any kind of nationalization,” finance minister Jacek Rostowski on Thursday.
The reform of the pension system, put in place in 1999, is “inevitable”, Rostowski said.
Under the new system, Poles will have to decide whether to leave part of their pension in private funds or transfer them to the state system.
As announced by Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday, 14 private pension funds currently operating in Poland can retain assets invested in stocks traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Polish treasury bonds, which contain around half of the contributions paid into the system, will now be transferred back into the state system, however.
Minister Rostowski has said the reforms would allow public debt, currently at 55 percent of GDP, to be cut by up to eight percentage points. (pg)
saource: PAP/AFP