PRIME Minister Robert Fico informed the media after a Coalition Council meeting on June 17 that the government had dropped a discussion on whether to re-open the second pension pillar once it closes at the end of June.
“I asked whether we should consider this proposal,” Fico said, “but I learned that it was made by a single member of parliament, not one of the ruling coalition parties, so we closed the topic.”
Earlier in the week, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) had appealed to Fico to address the proposal from HZDS MP Jozef Halecký that the second pension pillar remain open for another six months.
SDKÚ MP Pavol Frešo voiced concerns that this would create instability and deepen people’s concerns over their pensions.
Halecký said a lot of people for whom the second pillar is disadvantageous have not left it yet.
“I am not satisfied,” he told the Sme daily. “The number of those who have left it is low.”
The second pillar, also known as the capitalisation
pillar, was established as part of the previous government’s pension reform. More than 40,000 savers have transferred to the first pillar, administered by Sociálna Poisťovňa, since the beginning of this year and nearly 1.54 million have remained in it.
