The Directory of the Retirement and Pension Fund for University Professionals (Cjppu) presented to the Executive Branch a battery of urgent measures to address the financial crisis of the body among which stand ask passive affiliates and professionals who do not practice to contribute.
According to El País, the authorities of the Cjppu met last week with the Minister of Labor and Social Security, Pablo Mieresthe undersecretary of the portfolio, Mario Arizti and the National Director of Social Security, Daniel García Zeballlos and they explained the measures to mitigate the crisis in the short term.
The president of the Cjppu, Virginia Romerodescribed this meeting as “very good” and told El País that “the minister was very satisfied” with the package of measures and actuarial studies presented because they were “perfectly quantified in time and because it was a very serious analysis” who did the services of the box.
The deficit of the Caja de Profesionales for the period 2021-2026 would be between US$166 million and US$262 million in a medium scenario, while in a pessimistic scenario, the estimated amount of the deficits would range from US$238 million to $329 million.
The previous directive, headed by Gonzalo Deleonhad submitted a list of measures to deal with the crisis. One of those measures was to request a loan of between US$104 and US$184 million from the State, something that the government rejected. Although the new directive does not rule out having to apply for a loan eventually, at this time the option is not in the pipeline.
The unpopular measures
There are measures that the Board of Directors of the Cjppu has the power to take immediately. However, there are others that require parliamentary approval since they imply changes in the Organic Law of the savings bank, which may cause their realization to take longer.
One of the measures proposed and that will require parliamentary discussion is to increase the contribution rate, from 16.5% to 18%. Of that, one percentage point would be permanent and 0.5 percentage points transitory until the structural reform of the agency begins to bear fruit and its profitability improves. This will be “subject to some parameter that can be set”Romero said.
Another measure is that passive members contribute to the organization. As Romero explained to El País, this will not be a flat rate but It will be a progressive rate that on average is 6.5% up to approximately 7%. Said rate is calculated according to the amount of liability of each affiliate, it starts from 0% to 7%, although there are exceptions that would exceed this maximum in the case of liabilities that have a greater amount of liability.
“We cannot say that this will be neither permanent nor transitory because the projection that we make in this is until 2026.which is the expectation we have of when the structural reform would begin to take effect”, said the president of the Cjppu.
The Caja de Profesionales also proposed to the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) make modifications in article 71 of the Organic Law of the organism and increase in three paragraphs of professional stamps.
Camilo dos Santos
I also know proposed the return of the Social Security Assistance Tax (IASS) to the Caja. basically that the money currently paid by the liabilities of the Cjppu and that are destined for the Social Security Bank (BPS) are transferred to the parastatal body.
Among the measures that have generated the most noise are the propose the annual charge of approximately $4,000 per year to those professionals who declare that they do not freely exercise their profession. What’s more, they will be asked to declare non-exercise every two yearswhile until now graduates could declare for the only time that they did not exercise their profession freely.
“It would be to charge an annual fee of about $4,000, the contribution of the first category of the Fund, to those who do not exercise and oblige them every two years to ratify the declaration of non-exercise. It is not a measure that we all agree on, but that is what was presentedRomero said.
In addition, the Board of Directors took two measures over which it had complete authority. On the one hand, repeal health benefit exceptions, except for beneficiaries who have a “favorable court ruling” and those who are linked to situations of disability or medical provisions. On the other hand, repeal the additional increases in liabilities of 2.5% and 3%.
Romero told El País that although not all the members of the Board of Directors agreed with all the measures, if it was agreed to put them all to the consideration of the Executive. “It seemed to us that we had to include all that are possible sources of financing, some measures are controversial but well”, he added.
