The powerful lower house of the Japanese parliament yesterday approved a set of bills intended to overhaul the public pension system, which is overshadowed by a pension non-payment scandal involving top politicians.
The pension reform bills, which were sent to the upper house for further debate, would progressively raise pension premiums to deal with a growing number of retirees while the number of the working age people falls.
Under the package, the government would also thoroughly review the entire pension scheme, including taxes, premiums and benefits.
"The legislation passed the lower house," a Diet official said.
Under the bills, salaried workers' pension contributions would be gradually raised to 18.30 percent of their income by 2017 from the current 13.58 percent.
For others, such as business owners and the self-employed including politicians, the monthly premium would be gradually raised from 13,300 yen (US$117) to 16,900 yen by 2017.
Officials at the upper house declined to comment on when the package would complete its passage through parliament, but news media said the upper house would approve the bills by mid-June.
The approval by the lower house followed an accord struck between the ruling two-party coalition and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), which agreed to create a three-party committee to discuss pension reforms.
Parliamentary debate over the pension reform has been dogged by a damaging political scandal, with several cabinet ministers and top opposition lawmakers forced to admit that they failed to make compulsory pension payments for periods ranging from several months to two decades.
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