June 2023
21Jun

Thousands march in Colombia’s streets against Petro’s reform plans

Thousands of Colombians have protested in the capital Bogota and other cities against reforms by the country's first-ever leftist President Gustavo Petro, which many say go too far. Called by the right-wing opposition under the banner "march of the majority," protesters gathered on Tuesday in cities including Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Barranquilla. Many waved Colombia's yellow, blue and red flag, and held up posters with such messages as: "No to ending up like Cuba or Venezuela." The mobilisation seemed particularly large in...

June 21, 2023
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March 2023
24Mar

French visit by Britain’s King Charles postponed due to pension protests

A visit to France by King Charles III, due to start on Sunday, has been postponed at the request of President Emmanuel Macron because of ongoing protests over pension reform. There has been widespread violence and unions have called a national day of protest on Tuesday. The French presidency said the postponement was decided after a call between Macron and the king on Friday morning. "Given the announcement yesterday of another national day of protests against pension reform on Tuesday March...

March 24, 2023
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23Mar

France. Emmanuel Macron holds firm on pensions reform amid protests

Emmanuel Macron, France president, defended his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age on Wednesday as being key to repairing the public finances but acknowledged public anger over his government’s decision to pass the law without a parliamentary vote. “Do you think I enjoy doing this reform? No,” said Macron in a televised interview. “But there are not a hundred ways to balance the accounts . . . this reform is not a luxury or a pleasure, it’s a necessity for the country.” Read also...

March 23, 2023
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November 2022
17Nov

Analysis: Italy’s Meloni needs urgent fix for ballooning pensions bill

Italy's new prime minister Giorgia Meloni needs urgently to rein in a bloated pension system which absorbs most social spending and looks increasingly unsustainable in the face of surging inflation. Rome already has the highest pension bill in the 38-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and says outlays will climb by 58 billion euros ($60.35 billion), or 19.5%, by 2025 as rising prices boost index-linked payouts. With one of the world's oldest populations and low birth and employment rates, Italy...

November 17, 2022
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16Nov

Chile’s Pension Reform May Decide Boric’s Fate

The proposed reform has kept a private component that was initially shunned by the president. For much of the last eight months, President Gabriel Boric was waiting for a new constitution to be approved before introducing major reforms. It appears the government was counting on the new constitution, produced over the course of a year by a constitutional convention, to provide major definitions on things like health care, education and pensions. But a funny thing happened to the constitution: Chileans didn’t...

November 16, 2022
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16Nov

Germany prepares to reform all three pension system pillars

The German government is targeting a comprehensive reform of all the three pension system pillars during what it considers a turning point in history – Zeitwende – with high inflation, possible recession, changes in economic policies and demographic pressures. Speaking at the Handelsblatt occupational pension forum in Berlin today, Florian Toncar, parliamentary state secretary at the Ministry of Finance, said that the government will strengthen the capital funded components in all three pension system pillars, with the first pillar having...

November 16, 2022
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03Nov

Chile’s Boric announces plan to end private pension system

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday announced his long-awaited plan to reform the country’s controversial private pension system. In a televised address, Boric said he was planning to end Chile’s Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) system in lieu of a new private-public social security system that would see new contributions from employers and the state. “The AFPs, in this reform, are finished,” Boric said, adding that new private entities would still be allowed to invest pension funds, but there will also be...

November 3, 2022
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October 2021
05Oct

Post-covid pension reforms in Europe should focus on sustainability – leading macroeconomic influencers

The reforms introduced in European pension systems have placed unnecessary burden on younger population. Experts opine that post-Covid reforms should focus on sustainability and equity. Linda Yueh Linda Yueh, economist at the University of Oxford, shared an article on the equity of pension systems in Europe in the post-Covid era. The ageing population in Europe resulted in the implementation of several reforms to ensure the sustainability of the pension system. Major reforms, however, were implemented following the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and...

October 5, 2021
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November 2019

14Nov

UK. How the new govt should reform pensions

Auto-enrolment provider the People’s Pension has published five demands on the next government to improve pension saving in the UK. In particular the provider wants the next government to help people on low incomes, reduce the gender pensions gap and to make pensions more transparent. Auto-enrolment has widely been considered a success with 10m more people now saving for retirement than did before the policy was rolled out in late 2012. But in its new manifesto, published today...

November 14, 2019
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