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Smer and HZDS Want 13th Pension, SNS a State Pension Fund
Sunday 25 April 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, April 25 (TASR) - The most popular coalition party Smer-SD plans to change the Christmas bonus for pensioners that is currently in place into a partial 13th (extra) pension, or introduce a so-called minimum pension.
According to the party's programme, state-owned social insurer Socialna Poistovna, which administers the first state pension pillar, will remain a key institution in the Slovak pension system. Unifying the collection of taxes and deductions should cut operating costs, with Premier and Smer chairman Robert Fico promising that the retirement age won't increase if his party forms another government.
The transformation of the current Christmas bonus for pensioners into a 13th pension that would be guaranteed by the law and not subject to any political changes is promoted also by another coalition party - LS-HZDS. Although the issue of the retirement age will need to be addressed in the future, HZDS currently supports leaving the retirement age as it is now.
According to HZDS, the first and second pillars can't both feature the merit principle - so the element of solidarity should be strengthened in the first pillar.
The Slovak National Party (SNS), the third coalition partner, proposes setting up a so-called state pension fund in the next electoral term, one that would involve interest rates at the level at which the state borrows money. Subsequently, these resources would be used for state public investments. Such a change in the pension system would yield guaranteed no-risk interest and a growth in the fund, claims SNS.
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