Parliament on Wednesday, September 14, passed a government-sponsored amendment to the pension savings system, the TASR newswire wrote. The approved bill is the 21st amendment to the Act on Pension Savings since the original legislation was adopted by Mikuláš Dzurinda's second government (2002-06).
The amendment, which was authored by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family, increases the number of savings funds, involves fewer guarantees and provides for young people (school-leavers) to join the second pillar savings system automatically, although they will be allowed to leave it within a period of two years. There are only three funds at the moment, but they will be renamed and their number increased to four after the amendment takes effect. The bond fund will replace the current conservative fund, the mixed fund will replace the balanced fund, and the stock fund is set to replace the growth fund, while a new index fund will be set up. Only the bond fund will be subject to state guarantees.
Included in the bill is a proposal by Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) MP Ľudovít Kaník, the author of the original law on pension funds, that allows pension savings companies to invest in precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
