August 2022

Albania. Only wage increases through more productivity can save public pension system, Word Bank says

By Tirana Times The only way to guarantee that Albanians can rely on a public pension in the future is to increase wages through higher productivity, the World Bank says in a recent report. Albania is going through a major demographic transition with high rates of out-migration and the rapid aging of the population, which is making its social insurance system a huge burden on the economy as the contributor/beneficiary ratio continues to deteriorate. In Albania, expenditures in relation to GDP for...

September 2021

South Korea. State pensions face mounting calls for reform

Calls are expected to grow for the reform of four state-run pension funds, as nearly 60 trillion won ($51 billion) will be allocated for public spending next year, up 6.2 percent from this year's 55.8 trillion won. The year-on-year increase will require a greater amount of taxpayers' money to slow the hemorrhaging of the funds, as a rapidly aging society and overall decrease in labor productivity cause government welfare expenditures to snowball. Mandatory spending by law cannot be curbed unless a...