A few days ago, the board of directors received from the administration of the Social Security Fund (CSS) the complete x-ray of the entity’s finances at the end of 2020. In the explanations given and the numbers shared, two fundamental elements can be seen : the impact of the structural deficiency of the exclusively defined benefit subsystem for Disability, Old Age and Death (IVM) and the effects of Covid-19 on the revenue collection of this entity.
The IVM defined benefit subsystem closed the year 2020 with a deficit of $517.4 million. A year earlier, that is, in 2019, the deficit had been $249.9 million.
The underlying problem is that each year there are more retirees and the number of workers who, through their contributions, finance pensions is reducing.
According to the businessman and banker, Roberto Brenes, he explained about the pension system, asserting that the fundamental problem is that we are taking much more money than we put in. “That is simply and simply because the parameters are not adequate,” he said.
He added that “here we have an extremely generous system, which we have never wanted to change, and that generous thing is not new, actuaries have been pointing it out since 1980. At that time the problem was small and could have been solved, but now the problem is as much and bigger than the entire Gross Domestic Product of the country”.
He pointed out that part of the entire Dialogue for the CSS, when they start saying that they are going to reform without reforming, these “crazy ideas come out that we are going to take money from the Lottery, from the Canal, as if that money was no longer spent” .
Brenes wondered “why are you going to use the money of all Panamanians (mining) to solve the problem of 300,000 Panamanians, who are not the poorest, they are in all cases the least rich.”
He assured that those $375 million from mining, that’s basically two months of retirement pay. “Retirements eat up $180 million a month,” stressed the businessman.
