PM says Croatian pension reform praised by international experts

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in the eastern town of Vukovar on Friday that overhauling the pension system was necessary given that HRK 18 billion had been set aside from the state budget every year to make sure there was enough money for pensions, as pension insurance payments were insufficient.

This shows that the current pension system of generational solidarity does not provide enough money for pension allowances, Plenkovic said, explaining reasons for the reform which his government had launched. He underscored that the pension reform has so far been positively assessed by the International Monetary Fund, experts and the European Commission, adding that it was unclear to him why the reform had stirred up so much resistance.

"I would like to hear why there was no referendum when the statutory retirement age of 67 was introduced by the SDP (Social Democratic Party) government. Let trade union leaders say that clearly," Plenkovic said.

The pension reform, which was enacted in late 2018, is seen by some international institutions as a factor that will contribute to the fiscal sustainability of Croatia's pension system while ensuring better pension adequacy.

"The acceleration in the planned increase in the statutory retirement age to 67, coupled with the equalization of retirement age for men and women, will support the decrease in public pension expenditure expected by the European Commission's 2018 Ageing report (-3.8% of GDP in 2070 compared to 2016). The supplement granted to multi-pillar pensioners will help to improve the low pension adequacy," Moody's credit rating agency recently reported.

On the other hand, on 27 April three union federations started collecting signatures for a referendum on changes to the Pension Insurance Act to prevent the raising of the retirement age to 67. The signature collection campaign was organised by the NHS, SSSH and MHS union federations. The union federations want the government to restore the retirement age to 65, to set the age for early retirement at 60, and to reduce penalties for early retirement from 0.3% to 0.2% per month of early retirement.

Some of the opposition parties, including the SDP, have in the meantime supported the unions.

PM says will never sue media

The premier extended his best wishes to journalists on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, observed on 3 May. In this context he said that he would never sue reporters no matter what they might write about him.

Asked by the press about possibilities of some of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) candidates participating in the fourth national Walk for Life, which will be held in several cities on May 25, electoral silence day, Plenkovic said that it was their private business and on that day there were no official activities of any political party or candidates.

Text: Hina

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