Belarus Faces Pension Crisis

UNCLAS MINSK 000664 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELAB EFIN SOCI BO SUBJECT: Belarus Faces Pension Crisis ¶1. Summary: On May 18, Econoff met with the head of the Ministry of Labor's pension office, and on May 30 attended a conference where several GOB officials described an upcoming pension crisis. Belarus has 2.6 million pensioners, 27% of the population, and this number will grow in coming years. The country only has 1.667 workers per retiree. Because of low retirement ages and an extensive system of social payments, around 65% of the population receives some sort of payment from the GOB, totaling 35% of the budget. To help bring these numbers under control, and to encourage people to work longer, the GOB is planning to introduce an accumulative pension system in the near future. End summary. Crisis Coming -------------- ¶2. As far back as 2004 the GOB admitted that it faces a pension crisis, and must reform its state-controlled retirement system. There are now some 2.6 million pensioners, making up 27% percent of the Belarusian population. Low retirement ages contribute to this problem: Belarusian men retire at 60 and women at 55. The GOB also allows certain categories of workers, such as those who work in dangerous or unhealthy occupations, to retire earlier. Since 1990 the number of early retirees who qualify for a pension has tripled, and now represents 24% of all retirees. The GOB expects this problem to worsen; by 2025 the GOB predicts that 32% of the population will be pensioners. ¶3. According to the Ministry of Economics, in 1990 there were 2.185 workers for every pensioner. By 2005 that ratio had dropped to 1.667 workers per pensioner. Not only has the number of pensioners increased as Belarus' post-war baby boomers retire, but the number of Belarusians working has dropped from 5.8 million in 1990 to 4.3 million today. This ratio is expected to worsen, as the birth rate in Belarus has fallen by one-third since 1990. ¶4. Belarus has a distributive pension system with fixed payments. All residents of Belarus qualify for either a labor or social pension, regardless of citizenship. Those who work for at least five years receive labor pensions, whose amount is roughly determined by length of time worked and salary earned, although variations between the lowest and highest amounts is limited. Valentine Koroleva, head of the Pension Department at the Ministry of Labor, explained that low earning workers' pensions are equivalent to 60-80% of their salaries, while higher earning workers only get 15-20% of their salaries as a pension. All others receive social pensions, which are generally lower than labor pensions. ¶5. As of May 2006, the average Belarusian pension was USD 115 per month, equaling 43% of the average monthly salary. Regardless of income, workers pay one percent of their salary and employers pay 29% of payroll to the pension fund. The GOB has steadily raised pensions for the past few years; so far pensions have risen 25% in 2006 alone [Note: March presidential elections probably contributed to this sharp increase.]. Koroleva said that even with these increases, many pensioners are not satisfied with what they receive. In fact, 21% of pensioners work, as Koroleva admitted they cannot survive on their pensions. Pensioners who work get their salaries plus 20% of their pension. Extensive Social Payments = Fiscal Woes -------------- ¶6. Old age pensioners (including those who retiree early because of an unhealthy occupation) account for 85% of all pensioners. Invalids account for the other 15% of pensioners. In addition to paying pensions, the GOB provides social payments to citizens based on a number of criteria, such as: illness or temporary inability to work, pregnancy and birth, mothers caring for a child until the age of three, one paid day off per month for mothers caring for an invalid child, loss of a family's breadwinner, war veterans, and a death benefit paid when a family member dies. Currently 6.5 million Belarusians receive some sort of pension or social payment, out of a total population of 9.8 million. This is down from 7.5 million who received such payments in 2001. Koroleva said there were no plans to reduce the number of categories of people who qualify for social payments. ¶7. According to Natalya Shavlovskaya, Executive Director of the GOB's Social Security Fund, in 2005 8.9% of GDP went to paying pensions, with another 10.9% of GDP going to providing various social payments. Both categories have both been steadily rising since 2001. The 2006 budget allocated BYR 9.33 trillion (USD 4.34 billion),35% of budget expenditures, to pensions and social payments. Old age pensions account for BYR 5.7 trillion (USD 2.65 billion) of that amount. [Note: In contrast, the GOB will spend BYR 1.74 trillion (USD 809 million) on education and health care combined.] Private Pension System Very Small -------------- ¶8. Viktor Homyarchuk, President of the Belarusian Insurance Union, explained that there is no private pension insurance in Belarus, it has all been nationalized by the GOB. There are some very small private pension funds, which workers can use for additional, voluntary savings. Their total value was USD 8.92 million in 2005, up from USD 0.48 million in 2000. Homyarchuk said his union is lobbying the government to allow more private pension funds. Plans to Reform -------------- ¶9. Koroleva explained the GOB is working on draft legislation to transition to an accumulation pension system. Belarus has studied the experiences of Ukraine and Kazakhstan in similar pension reform. The GOB hopes to start enrolling younger workers in such a system as early as 2008. Under the proposed system, workers would pay more into a pension fund and employers would pay less. Workers will be allowed to make additional, voluntary payments. The amount of pension a worker receives would then depend to a much greater degree on the amount paid in and the length of time worked. She stated that the GOB would not likely raise retirement ages, but that the government hoped to encourage people to work longer if it offers the possibility of larger pensions. Ludmila Telegina, head of the Ministry of Economic's Social Protection unit, estimated the GOB would need to spend around three percent of GDP (about USD 900 million in 2005) to introduce an accumulation pension system for younger workers while not cutting benefits for retirees and older workers. She added that the GOB would like to introduce such a system soon, but is hampered by the lack of long-term investment possibilities in Belarus where the GOB could invest the money being paid in by workers. Comment -------------- ¶10. Pension reform is a bold and potentially divisive reform measure, which has stymied many other transition economies because of its pervasive impact on a cherished communist value--the guarantee of a steady, if modest, pension. The World Bank mission head in Belarus noted to emboffs in a discussion of Belarusian economic policy that introduction of the new pension system could be considered a bell-weather of the regime's attitude to economic reform. Ironically, the tight control over political life could make success in this reform more likely in Belarus than in more pluralistic neighbors. KROL