November 2021
18Nov

Mexico. Pensions will consume 16.5% of the federal budget next year

About one-sixth of the 2022 federal budget will be used to pay pensions as a record 1.17 trillion pesos (US $56.6 billion) will end up in the pockets of retired workers next year. According to the 7-trillion-peso (US $338.8 billion) budget approved in the lower house of Congress last Sunday, the outlay on pensions will increase 6.2% in 2022 and represent 16.5% of the total budget. Read also UK. Could CDC solve the USS crisis? The 1.17 trillion pesos will go to...

November 18, 2021
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16Nov

UK. Could CDC solve the USS crisis?

Collective defined contribution has been touted as a possible long-term solution to the problems of the Universities Superannuation Scheme, but experts and unions are not convinced of its suitability. As Pensions Expert has reported previously, the USS trustee has been locked in protracted negotiations with employers, represented by Universities UK, and union members, represented by the University and College Union, over the outcome of its controversial 2020 consultation. The results of its latest valuation saw the scheme’s deficit quadrupling to more...

November 16, 2021
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04Nov

Judge advances Puerto Rico Board’s pension interpretation of bond bill

The Puerto Rico bankruptcy judge approved the Oversight Board’s plan to notify affected parties of its interpretation of the bond law supporting the bankruptcy, allowing the board's motion to move forward with pension changes in the Plan of Adjustment. On Monday the board’s lead attorney told Judge Laura Taylor Swain the current bond adjustment deal would collapse unless she ruled that a recently passed law, which bars pension “cuts,” allows for the board’s planned pension changes. On Tuesday Swain approved the...

November 4, 2021
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04Nov

Romania labor minister announces pensions increases in January

Romania's Government plans to increase pensions by at least 6% next year while child allowances will go up by 20% from January 1, 2022, the interim labor minister, Raluca Turcan, said on Monday, November 1. "A realistic and sustainable budgetary effort for next year means an increase in allowances by 20% from January 1, so an overall increase in expenses of about RON 350 million per month, in addition to this year's expenditure. Also, pensions will be indexed by at least...

November 4, 2021
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03Nov

U.S. corporate pension funding rises in october-4 reports

Funding ratios for U.S. corporate pension plans increased in October, according to reports from Legal & General Investment Management America, Wilshire, Northern Trust Asset Management and Insight Investment. LGIMA found in its monthly pension solutions monitor that the funding ratio of a typical corporate pension plan increased by 2 percentage points to 91.7% in October primarily due to strong performance from global equities. LGIMA estimated that U.S. Treasury rates dropped 4 basis points while credit spreads remained relatively unchanged, resulting in...

November 3, 2021
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03Nov

UK. House of Lords votes for changes to pension triple lock freeze

The government has been defeated in the House of Lords over its one-year suspension of the "triple lock" formula to increase the state pension. Ministers plan to temporarily break the link between pensions and the rise in earnings, breaching a manifesto pledge. It followed concern that a post-pandemic rise in average wages would have meant pensions increasing by 8%. Peers voted to restore a link with earnings. But MPs could still go on to reject their amendment. The House of Lords backed an...

November 3, 2021
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02Nov

UK academics begin legal action to halt proposed cuts to pensions

UK university academics have launched legal action to try to halt proposed cuts to their pensions as well as speed up their retirement scheme’s divestment of shares in fossil fuel companies. Documents requesting permission to launch proceedings against the £80bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s largest private sector pension plan, were last week submitted to the High Court. The crux of the move is a decision by the trustees and managers of the 430,000-member scheme to undertake a health check...

November 2, 2021
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01Nov

Uganda government shoulders more burden as Makerere University pension scheme expands

The government of Uganda is facing an additional financial burden of at least Ush60 million ($16,751) annually to cater for the expanded Makerere University Retirement Benefits Scheme that was approved by the Ministry of Finance. The Finance ministry remits 10 percent of an employee’s gross salary to the scheme, as employer contributions, and employees contribute five per cent of their gross salary. An expansion in the scheme’s membership directly leads to an increase in government’s costs in the short term....

November 1, 2021
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October 2021
25Oct

Israel’s Holocaust survivors to be supplemented NIS 20 million

The government has secured an extra NIS 20 million in annual payments for Holocaust survivors living in Israel following negotiations with the German Finance Ministry. The cabinet approved the agreement on Sunday. Some 3,700 Holocaust survivors who receive pensions from the German government will be eligible for the increased payments. The negotiations were conducted by the Social Equality and Pensioners Ministry and the Authority for the Rights of Holocaust Survivors. All those eligible for German pensions will receive an extra €100...

October 25, 2021
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25Oct

‘We are worried!’ Number of EU citizens claiming benefits doubled during pandemic

The number of EU citizens claiming benefits has doubled during the pandemic, with around 780,000 EU citizens receiving working-age benefits, according to new data from the Department for Work and Pensions. In comparison, the figure stood at just 380,000 in November 2019. Claims from migrants from some nations that acceded into the Brussels bloc in 2004 and 2007 stood even higher than the overall average. Claims from Romania and Bulgaria more than trebled - taking the figure from 66,00 to 190,000 among...

October 25, 2021
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