site.btaNew Labour Minister Says Pension System Reform Is His Primary Concern

105 POLITICS - SOCIAL AFFAIRS - MINISTER - PLANS

New Labour Minister Says
Pension System Reform
Is His Primary Concern


Varna, on the Black Sea, November 15 (BTA) - The new Labour and
Social Policy Minister Ivailo Kalfin said in Varna on Saturday
that the pension system reform is the first challenge which he
is planning to address after the schemes for the updated 2014
national budget and the 2015 budget become clear.

Kalfin said the pension system is, unfortunately, a classic
example of piecemeal work. He argued that the system needs
security and long-term planning and the people need to know how
long they are going to work and what they will get when they
retire. The National Social Security Institute (NSSI) and other
welfare agencies should be able to make long-term plans about
their resources, he said. Kalfin believes that the pension
system can only be stable if there is broad consensus about its
future.

Instead of patching things up at the end of each year, the
stakeholders should put matters in a long-range perspective by
looking 15 to 20 years ahead, he said. Leverage should be sought
to raise incomes and social insurance levels over the long term
if the pension system is to be independent from the national
budget, the Minister noted. He called for a broad discussion on
the pension system reform.

Kalfin's second priority is to make sure that the huge amounts
of welfare spending are used more efficiently. The welfare
payments due until the end of this year will be secured through
the planned update of the national budget. The update will give
the Labour and Social Policy Ministry an additional 50 million
leva to finance its commitments to beneficiaries, Kalfin said.

The question of whether or not retired people will get Christmas
bonuses in 2014 will be discussed with Finance Minister
Vladislav Goranov. The money for the bonuses could come from
NSSI or from additional revenues to the national budget which
are not included in the planned budget update, Kalfin said.
LI/VE