Pension law to be sent back to MPs

A draft law on pension and disability insurance will be sent back to parliament after it was recently withdrawn. However, it remains unclear which version will reach MPs. Pension law to be sent back to MPs While trade unions believe their demands will be included in the draft as they negotiate with the government, members of a working group that produces it say the text will not change significantly. According to an agreement the government has with the IMF, the draft must be sent back to parliament by November 2 at the latest. Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said on Wednesday that the amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, which the government withdrew from parliamentary procedure last week, will be sent back to the parliament before the end of the ongoing sixth review under Serbia's stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The government will adopt a position on the amendments Monday or Tuesday, Cvetkovic told reporters at the presentation of the White Book 2010 at the Foreign Investors Council in Serbia. The prime minister said that the bill must be sent back to parliament in face of union protests, because pension adjustments are planned for January and October 2011. It has been agreed in the meantime that pensions will follow the rise in salaries and that the first adjustment will take place in January next year, he explained. Noting that the main complaint from the unions was that the amendments were not presented to the Social Economic Council, Cvetkovic said he believed the problem could be overcome and the amendments finalized next week. Cvetkovic expressed expectation that basic macroeconomic parameters for the 2011 budget will be set in the talks with the IMF, so the government can then proceed to draft the particulars of the budget bill. Meanwhile unions are ready for negotiations as say that the minimum demand that they will not abandon is a protective clause that will prevent pensions from being depreciated. "That means, (pensions should be at) 60 percent of the average salary - the lowest pension must be 25 percent of the average salary," Ranka Savic from the ASNS union says. The working group, however, says that whether the 60 percent of the average salary will be mentioned in the draft is irrelevant. "Either it will be implemented or not. Whether we will have a GDP that will enable with its size for this or not, and whether we will go around in circles or not," said Stevan Verbalov.

Pension law to be sent back to MPs

While trade unions believe their demands will be included in the draft as they negotiate with the government, members of a working group that produces it say the text will not change significantly.

According to an agreement the government has with the IMF, the draft must be sent back to parliament by November 2 at the latest.

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković said on Wednesday that the amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, which the government withdrew from parliamentary procedure last week, will be sent back to the parliament before the end of the ongoing sixth review under Serbia's stand-by arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The government will adopt a position on the amendments Monday or Tuesday, Cvetković told reporters at the presentation of the White Book 2010 at the Foreign Investors Council in Serbia.

The prime minister said that the bill must be sent back to parliament in face of union protests, because pension adjustments are planned for January and October 2011.

It has been agreed in the meantime that pensions will follow the rise in salaries and that the first adjustment will take place in January next year, he explained.

Noting that the main complaint from the unions was that the amendments were not presented to the Social Economic Council, Cvetković said he believed the problem could be overcome and the amendments finalized next week.

Cvetković expressed expectation that basic macroeconomic parameters for the 2011 budget will be set in the talks with the IMF, so the government can then proceed to draft the particulars of the budget bill.

Meanwhile unions are ready for negotiations as say that the minimum demand that they will not abandon is a protective clause that will prevent pensions from being depreciated.

"That means, (pensions should be at) 60 percent of the average salary - the lowest pension must be 25 percent of the average salary," Ranka Savić from the ASNS union says.

The working group, however, says that whether the 60 percent of the average salary will be mentioned in the draft is irrelevant.

"Either it will be implemented or not. Whether we will have a GDP that will enable with its size for this or not, and whether we will go around in circles or not," said Stevan Verbalov.