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Opening of the pension fund to be up for discussion in citizen demand, Health Minister says

By Liza Norwich-Gerwik
Friday, November 27
According to the Health Minister Ekaterina Tikaradze, if the availability of the pension fund is the population's demand, they will raise the issue again and it will be discussed.

"We have discussed this issue, but we believe that it is a long-term reform. However, since it is the request of the population, I will raise the issue again and we will discuss this," said Tikaradze.

At a briefing after the meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council, government officials discussed a number of restrictions that will enter into effect on November 28. The restriction affected many sectors, so the question was asked at the briefing whether it was better to open a pension scheme so that people could withdraw their own money and spend accordingly in times of crisis, the Minister's answer was related to this question.

On the same topic, The Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said that the opening of the pension fund so that the people involved in it can already use the existing savings is not planned.

"All the measures we offer, the social assistance package is fully provided from the budget and we have enough funds for that. I hope that the next parliament will quickly consider next year's budget and this will be reflected partly in this year's budget, partly in next year's budget; As for issues such as pension savings, pension reform, pension scheme, and fund - this is a long-term issue. Pension reform is one of the fundamental reforms and we should not overlook it, we should not discredit it, no matter what problems we face," Turnava said.

According to Turnava, the pension scheme is not a problem to be solved in the short term, as the 'pandemic is a short term problem' if we compare it to the pension scheme and its duration.

"The problem is big, but we should not ruin the pension reform built together," Natia Turnava said.