INTRODUCTION OF MANDATORY FUNDED PENSION SYSTEM IN ARMENIA DIFFICULT TO IMPLEMENT IN PRACTICE - DEMOGRAPHER
YEREVAN, March 3, /ARKA/. Introduction of mandatory funded pension
system in Armenia is theoretically possible, but difficult to implement
in practice, said demographer Ruben Yeganyan.
"If the population of the country, particularly young people,
embraced by the new pension scheme, were solvent, this reform would
be acceptable in theory, but in practice it is difficult to imagine,"
he told ARKA.
According to him, the pension reform will create additional financial
hardship for the population, which is already facing numerous
difficulties.
Yeganyan argued that the segment of the population who the new scheme
embraces should be given freedom to choose it voluntarily.
Armenia's Constitutional Court suspended last month Article 76 of the
new pension law, which provides for penalties for failed or delayed
pension tax payments, and the third paragraph of Article 86, which
obligates employed citizens to choose a pension fund, among other
parts of the law. The Court says it will conclude the inquiry on
March 28, 2014.
The constitutionality of the law was challenged by three opposition
parties in the National Assembly -- the Armenian National Congress,
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Heritage Party --
along with the usually pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party.
The new pension system requires that all Armenian citizens born
after 1973 pay social security taxes equivalent to 5 percent of their
monthly wages, which will be matched and doubled by the government.
That money has to be deposited with private pension funds licensed
by the government late last December. -0-
- See more at:
http://arka.am/en/news/society/introduction_of_mandatory_funded_pension_system_in _armenia_difficult_to_implement_in_practice_demogr/#sthash.rxjg6BlL.dpuf
YEREVAN, March 3, /ARKA/. Introduction of mandatory funded pension
system in Armenia is theoretically possible, but difficult to implement
in practice, said demographer Ruben Yeganyan.
"If the population of the country, particularly young people,
embraced by the new pension scheme, were solvent, this reform would
be acceptable in theory, but in practice it is difficult to imagine,"
he told ARKA.
According to him, the pension reform will create additional financial
hardship for the population, which is already facing numerous
difficulties.
Yeganyan argued that the segment of the population who the new scheme
embraces should be given freedom to choose it voluntarily.
Armenia's Constitutional Court suspended last month Article 76 of the
new pension law, which provides for penalties for failed or delayed
pension tax payments, and the third paragraph of Article 86, which
obligates employed citizens to choose a pension fund, among other
parts of the law. The Court says it will conclude the inquiry on
March 28, 2014.
The constitutionality of the law was challenged by three opposition
parties in the National Assembly -- the Armenian National Congress,
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Heritage Party --
along with the usually pro-government Prosperous Armenia Party.
The new pension system requires that all Armenian citizens born
after 1973 pay social security taxes equivalent to 5 percent of their
monthly wages, which will be matched and doubled by the government.
That money has to be deposited with private pension funds licensed
by the government late last December. -0-
- See more at:
http://arka.am/en/news/society/introduction_of_mandatory_funded_pension_system_in _armenia_difficult_to_implement_in_practice_demogr/#sthash.rxjg6BlL.dpuf