LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) - Bolivia passed a Bill Friday lowering of the age of retirement at 58, a global trend country whereby countries push people to work longer to deal with the burden on national budgets in bucking increasing life expectancy.
Critics say the law, which also nationalized the pension system and generously extends coverage to the poor, too ambitious and untenable.
Leftist President Evo Morales signed the Bill surrounded by members of the Bolivian workers powerful, which has helped the Bill.
Current Bolivia retirement age is 65 for men and 60 for women.
"We are fulfilling a promise with the Bolivian people." We create a system which includes everyone retirement ", he said at the signing ceremony."
The law, which shall take effect one year also extends pension for 3 million-60 per cent of the active population - people who work in the informal economy as any vendors for bus drivers.
"Evo Morales think poor so that they can have something when they get old", said Juan Quispe, 45, a father of three without an annuity selling ice cream in the Street outside of the National Palace.
The new law will allow 70,000 minor Bolivians retired two years earlier - or at the age of 51 years, if they worked in conditions of life-undermines deep underground. Mothers more three children will also receive special treatment: the right to retire at the age of 55.
Morales, an Aymara Indian and first indigenous President of the country, a farmer from Lama dirt poor grew and later became militant Union a coca-growers.
Socialism preaches it is rooted in her native culture politics. Since coming into Office in 2006, he has developed this Andean nation landlocked reserves of natural gas, telephone main carrier and electricity under the control of the State.
"It is extremely important, perhaps one of the biggest advances to low- and modest - income people in South America for the past 15 years," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.
But critics say that the new law could reproduce financial disaster.
Jacob Funk Kierkegaard, an economist at the Peterson Institute in Washington, D.c., says that he knows no other country lowering the age of retirement at a time when the higher life expectancy is burdening national budgets with the pension obligations.
"I would say that they are themselves definition for a train wreck on the road," he said in a telephone interview. "They should be knowingly going in this direction seems very, very short-sighted."
Other countries are on the road to the opposition. France led load to raise the minimum age for retirement in Europe, by increasing the month last to 62, with all the advantages not available until the age of 67. Same socialist Cuba has raised his age of retirement from 60 to 65 years for men and 55 and 60 for women.
Pension Deputy Minister Bolivia, Mario Guillen says that his nation should not be compared to the rest of the world.
"Many Bolivian workers perform jobs that are not highly physical, intellectual, and this means that they lacked the ability to keep more than 55 years," he told the Associated Press. "Yet we made continue them".
The Bolivia average life expectancy is 68 years for women and 63 years for men, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the population Division. Division develops the world average for both sexes, with Western Europe 80 68 and 73 Latin America.
In addition, Guillen said conditions stimulate European Governments to raise age of retirement - older and declining birth - rates do not exist in this country of 10 million inhabitants, where the annual gross national income per capita was $ 1,620 in 2008.
Lowering of the retirement age has been long a priority for the Federation at the hands of work, a funder of high moral.
The Bolivia business community is not happy, however.
The President of the Federation of traders the private country, Daniel Sanchez, called new Act unsustainable and complained that his group was never consulted on it.
And the Government has not explained the details of works of the new system.
"The Government prepare a banquet for 300 000 people, but inviting 3 million to participate, said pension expert Alberto Bonadona." "It would collapse.
To provide 3 million new future pensioners, employers pay the equivalent of 3% of their payroll into a "solidarity fund". Workers will add to 0.5% of their salary for pension contributions that are unique.
Workers in the informal sector will be eligible for pensions if they pay at least $13 per month in the pension fund with more than a decade. Then, they would be eligible for pensions starting at $68 per month.
It is has thirteen Bolivia privatized pension funds after a State system collapsed under a cloud of mismanagement and theft.
Currently, pension fund Bolivia, covering 1.2 million workers in sectors both private and public, are private managed by Zurich Financial Services and the BBVA Bank. Together, they manage $ 4.5 billion.
However, Government borrowed much of this money-3 billion 2.6% interest, and critics cite as a precedent worrying how Government now administer all pensions.
Associated press writers Paola Flores has reported this story of La Paz and Frank Bajak de Bogotá (Colombia). AP writer Carlos Valdez in La Paz has contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment