JANUARY was the last month for pension savings contributors to enter or exit the second, private pillar of the pension saving system. Between the beginning of September 2012 and January 30, 2013 more than 63,000 people chose to exit the second pillar, the SITA newswire reported on January 30; over the same period, nearly 10,300 people joined the scheme.
Then, on January 31, the state-run social insurer, Sociálna Poisťovňa, unexpectedly announced that over 15,000 more people had asked to leave the second pillar on the last available day, raising the total to 78,588, the TASR newswire reported.
The number of people leaving and entering the second pension pillar thus far exceeded the predictions of the government of Robert Fico, which forecast that 60,000 contributors would leave and 10,000 new people would join the private pension scheme.
Sociálna Poisťovňa will demand that pension fund management companies return almost €245 million for those exiting, TASR reported.
From September 2012 until January 31, 1.45 million contributors to the second pillar had the opportunity to return to the pay-as-you-go state-funded pension system, managed by Sociálna Poisťovňa.
4. Feb 2013 at 0:00 | Compiled by Spectator staff