With the bill transfering money from the Open Pension Funds (OFE) to the Individual Retirement Accounts (IKE) we are returning funds to the pensioners - the Minister of Finance, Investment and Development, Jerzy Kwieciński said on Wednesday. He added that the reform is to strenghten the retirement savings system.
"We're bringing the funds back to pensioners, we want to transfer the money gathered in the Open Pension Funds back to all those who had been saving there. There are nearly 16 million people who had, and the savings amount to around 162 billion zlotys," Minister Kwieciński said at a press conference on Wednesday.
He added that transforming OFE into IKE (by transfering the gathered money) is aimed to strenghten the retirement savings system. "This is a key premise for us. We want the basic pension, which comes from the first pillar (from the Social Insurance Institution - ZUS), to be strenghtened by capital savings," Kwieciński explained.
The reform will allow Poles to choose whether to transfer their money to IKE or to ZUS.
All those who decide to transfer their funds into IKE will be able to use their money as they see fit after reaching the retirement age. However, the said option carries a 15-percent charge.
The minister pointed out that, at the moment, the funds gathered at the Individual Retirement Accounts (IKE) are relatively small, with less than 1 million Poles registered.
Kwieciński also informed that the transfer of funds from OFE to IKE will be carried out on the 1st of July 2020. "The fist months of the next year should be a time for deciding whether or not we want to transfer money gathered in OFE to ZUS," the minister added.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP