The most critical problem which the government has to soon face, along with the recapitalization of the banks, is the pension system reform. Despite the pension cutes and measures taken to rise the age of retirement, the situation continues to be problematic. For this year alone the deficit of the pension funds will be almost one billion euros more than what had been estimated in the budget.
At the IMF meeting on Thursday, Mrs. Lagarde requested more changes to the pension system, so that the Fund may continue participating in the country’s funding. The demands for new measures come despite the IMF report, which notes that Greece is the only where the age of retirement increased in the 2011-2014 period, along with the introduction of stricter rules for early retirement and progressive pension cuts.
Unfortunately we are a country of pensioners and unemployed. With 2.6 million pensioners and about 15,000 more waiting to get their pension, as well as over a million unemployed, the future looks bleak, unless we manage to return to growth and job creation. The mismanagement of the funds, clientelism and corporatist “conquests” have resulted in today’s dramatic impasse.
Politicians, unionists and the society which prevented the Giannitsis reform 15 years ago, for short-term selfish reasons, are now having the rug pulled under their feet. The constant cuts and patching up cannot provide a solution to the major problem at hand.
The necessary reconstruction of the pension system must emerge from the broadest social and political consensus, through a discussion without blinkers and wishful thinking; by taking advantage of all available resources, by reorganizing the funds to ensure a decent living for today’s pensions and the interests of the next generations. There are obviously no easy solutions, but we cannot hide the problem under the rug anymore.
TO VIMA
