Pension reform divides Poland

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced at the beginning of the year a pension reform slated for April. It will reshuffle pension contributions in such a way that the part of their salaries which employees had previously paid towards their own pensions as a capital investment in the state-organised OFE pension funds will now be set aside for pensioners. The online edition of news magazine Wprost takes exception to the plans: "In its search for sources for financing the growing public debt, the government has opted for a double game: the financial service providers who manage the OFE open pension funds and the powerful political lobby that backs them symbolise part of the conflict. The second part is Polish society. The contributions that Poles have invested in a better future have been the most important source for their pensions up to now. The representatives of the OFEs certainly won't just sit back and allow this. They will try to find new ways of compensating for the losses they incur through the reduction of the contributions."

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