Spanish Minister for Labour: “All Workers Should Have a Private Pension”
March 10th, 2010
The Minister for Labour, Celestino Corbacho, yesterday recommended that all workers should have a private pension plan in place if they want to offset the revenue losses that will occur when receiving a standard state pension in retirement.
There were therefore some cries of double standards when, during parliamentary questions, the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was asked if he had a supplementary scheme to the public pension system … Zapatero responded with a resounding “no”.
The same question was soon directed at another principle member of the government. Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, confirmed that she does have a private pension plan to supplement her future pension, but said that there are no plans for private pensions to substitute the public pension system. “I think private pension plans are a legitimate option for many,” said the De la Vega, but she stressed the Government’s commitment to “maintain, strengthen and ensure” the future of the public pension system.
In this regard, the deputy Prime Minister underlined that the government is working to continue to maintain the public pension system for future generations and for all citizens to have access to “equitable” social benefits. “This government has raised the minimum pension by almost 32% in six years and has promoted more social benefits, and maintained them, even in difficult economic times,” she said.
The general secretary of the Popular Party, María Dolores de Cospedal, said today that what the Minister for Labour, Celestino Corbacho, should be doing is providing “assurances about the pension system and working to ensure its viability,” Cospedal noted that it was “quite surprising” that private pension plans were considered “as a solution to problems or the potential viability of the current social security system.” She confirmed that she has no private pension plan of her own but respects “those who do,” while quipping that Corbacho’s comment was “not the best line” for the Minister of Labour.
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