Poland's average pension to fall to 29 pct of wage by 2050 if no reforms are implemented - IMF
Without any reforms of the Polish public pension system, by 2050, the average benefit ratio would decline from 45 to 29 percent, according to a report following The International Monetary Fund's mission to Poland.
"Population aging is projected to undermine the adequacy of the Polish public pension system over the long-term, particularly for poorer pensioners, women, and non-standard employees. Without any reforms, by 2050, the average benefit ratio would decline from 45 to 29 percent," IMF assessed in the report.
"Counteracting the effects of population aging to maintain the benefit ratio would entail additional fiscal costs of some 6 percentage points of GDP by 2050," it added.
IMF economists stressed that the steep decline in the benefit ratio would imply a convergence of the average pension to the minimum pension, eventually creating a universal system.
"A comprehensive multi-pronged approach is needed to help cushion the effects of population aging," the Fund experts pointed out.
Among the potential measures, they listed equalising the legal retirement age for men and women and increasing it over time with life expectancy; extending effective working lives beyond the statutory retirement age and incentivising pensioners to work and introducing a minimum contributory period to encourage longer working lives and reduce administrative costs on very small payouts.
The experts also mentioned, among other things, implementing measures on the labour market to increase the share of economically active people, as well as increasing the share of household savings in the economy.
jz/ ao/