Updates with new totals from Chile´s Superintendent of Pensions

More than 3 million Chileans on Thursday asked to withdraw a portion of their pension funds as a controversial law took effect allowing citizens to tap into retirement savings to buffer the economic impacts of the coronavirus.

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Long lines formed in Santiago outside the offices of Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) as Chileans sought to take advantage of the new law. The emergency measure allows those with savings to withdraw up to 10% of their pensions.

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Chile´s Superintendent of Pensions said in a statement 3,024,347 people had asked to withdraw their share by 5 p.m. local time. The websites of several of the fund administrators collapsed Thursday amid the deluge of requests, prompting an apology from the companies.

“As we warned from the beginning, this process is unprecedented and we have had to quickly prepare all the platforms,” said Fernando Larraín, president of Chile´s association of pension fund managers.

Larrain said it would take 10 business days for the first payouts to arrive. The influx of cash into the pockets of everyday Chileans is largely expected to boost the economy. Several economists and analysts have revised dire predictions for Chile´s gross domestic product upward since the law’s passage in anticipation of a kick-start in consumer spending.

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