Opposition Warns of Possible Nationalisation of Savings in 2nd Pension Pillar

Bratislava, April 26 (TASR) - Repeated statements by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) about the possible use of savings from the second pension pillar for investments in infrastructure in Slovakia are a preparation for their nationalisation, several opposition parties once again said on Friday, lambasting the idea. Vice-chair of the parliamentary social affairs committee Simona Petrik (Progressive Slovakia) stressed that the second pension pillar is worthwhile for the people to a large degree. Moreover, the Constitution clearly states that the return on savings accounts cannot be reduced because it touches the social standard of the people in old age. "This means that interventions that further reduce the amount of money in the second pillar border on unconstitutionality," she emphasised. "Robert Fico also mentioned investments financed by China. It's a very serious step for Slovakia to follow this path," stressed MP and vice-chairman of the Christian Democrats Jozef Hajko. According to him, there are several reasons for this, including issues of state security, negative experience from abroad or the threat that Slovaks may lose their property in this way. Head of the 'Slovakia' party parliamentary caucus Michal Sipos doubts that the state will be able to offer savers favourable conditions for investing their money. "Robert Fico wants to take this money away from the people. He's trying to cover it up by saying that the state will borrow this money to build infrastructure. Robert Fico doesn't want to borrow any money, he wants to take it. He himself knows that he cannot guarantee the kind of returns, that is the appreciation of savings, that pension funds have," he said on Friday. The opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is also concerned that the current government wants to tap into people's pension savings. It has therefore proposed a constitutional law that would guarantee the setting of the pension system, including the second pillar. The prime minister has stressed many times recently that it is the duty of the government to kick-start the economy through all available resources. Just last week, during the summit in Brussels, Fico pointed out that the Slovaks have huge savings in the second pension pillar in addition to the banks, noting that this is "dead" money that is not being used for Slovakia's development. am/mcs