Implementing pension reforms a year ago has saved the government NT$28 billion (US$901.13 million), all of which would go into the pension fund for military personnel, civil servants and educators, the Ministry of Civil Service said yesterday.
The Ministry of National Defense had as of March 29 wired NT$10 billion into the fund, saying that a 2016 amendment to the Act of Military Service for Officers and Non-commissioned Officers of the Armed Forces (陸海空軍軍官士官服役條例) freed up the amount.
Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Service, the Ministry of Education and the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen showed that NT$14 billion was saved in the latter part of fiscal year 2018 thanks to the reforms.
Of that total, NT$6 billion had been allotted as pension payouts to civil servants and NT$7 billion as payouts to educators, the Ministry of Civil Service said, adding that there was also NT$4 billion allotted as pension payouts to military personnel and that the NT$14 billion in savings would be added to the pension fund in fiscal year 2020.
Pension reform is a policy that should be sustained, Presidential Office spokesperson Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said yesterday.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had proposed pension reform, but President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at her 2016 inauguration that pension reforms could no longer be delayed, Chang said.
The reforms have contributed to the overall financial stability of the nation, which will feel less of a bite from the policy the sooner it is implemented, Chang added.
Tsai’s administration is not considering adjusting the reforms, despite the opposition party making the issue part of its policy platform, Chang said, adding that it is instead time to consolidate the results of the reforms.
The government is keeping communication open with the public about the reforms, Chang added.
One pensioner was supported by 8.8 workers in 1996, by 5.6 workers in 2016 and likely only 2.6 workers in 2031, the Pension Reform Committee said.
The pension fund has not delayed the pension payout age, despite life expectancy continuing to increase, causing more people to draw a pension for a longer period, the committee said.
The ever-shrinking younger population would inevitably shoulder the burden, as a pension is guaranteed by the government and must be paid out, it said.
Doing nothing would render the military personnel pension fund the first to become insolvent as of 2020, the committee said.
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