Govt, Employers, Trade Unions Agree on Silver Fund Active Management
The National Council for Tripartite Cooperation which includes government officials, representatives of the employers' organizations and the trade unions, agreed on legislative changes allowing 30% of the state Silver Fund to be invested in government securities this year.
The finance ministry plans to raise this ceiling by 10% annually until it reaches 70% by 2016, the state-run Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) said on Thursday.
The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), said it will support the amendments only in exchange for guarantees that the money from the fund will remain in the Bulgarian economy, the state-run Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported.
The council also agreed that the fund will not be tapped for pensions before 2028 - 2029, ten years later than initially planned.
The Silver Fund was established in 2008 as a reserve accumulating financial resources for payment of pensions in a future moment when seniors are expected to outnumber employed persons. The 1.7 billion levs it has raised so far are kept in short-term deposits with the central bank. They earn practically no income.
Vassil Velev, chairman of the managing board of the Association of Industrial Capital told BTA that the Silver Fund loses 40-50 million levs every year due to inadequate management.