The government’s pension reforms were the right move and the promise that the financial burden on future generations would be eased has been justified, Minister Without Portfolio Lin Wan-i (林萬億) said on Saturday last week.
Ministry of Civil Service data showed that in fiscal 2019, reforms reduced government expenditure for the military, civil servants and educators by about NT$28.69 billion (US$969.72 million).
Data from the Ministry of Education and the Veterans Affairs Council showed that reduced civil servant payouts comprised NT$11.95 billion, payments for educators was NT$15.55 billion and military personnel received a combined NT$1.18 billion.
Combined with NT$14 billion in reduced expenditure following the promulgation of the reforms on July 1, 2018, and applying an estimate of NT$14 billion for the first half of this year, expenditure on pensions fell by NT$56.83 billion, the government said.
Leftover funds have been put into the pension fund for retired military personnel, civil servants and educators, it said.
The council estimated it put NT$10 billion into the military pension fund in fiscal 2019, the government said.
The data show that the reforms have lived up to the promise to balance pension funds, Lin said.
After heavy opposition from affected groups when the government began implementing the reforms in 2016, the reduced opposition today proves that the government was on the right path and that the changes have prevented the pension fund from insolvency, Lin said.
A lot of military personnel, civil servants and educators are delaying retirement, which is a return to normalcy and what the reforms sought to do, he said.
Early retirement coupled with increased average lifespans led to greater retirement payouts, which was an abnormal situation and placed great pressure on funds, he said.
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