In an interview with EL TIEMPO, Jaime Dussán, president of Colpensiones, explained the role that the entity he presides will play under the new pension scheme for Colombians, provided for in the pension reform, approved by the Congress of the Republic last Friday.
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Additionally, the president of Colpensiones said that it is most likely that in about 5 or 10 years a new initiative will have to be advanced to adjust the retirement age, as they did in France and as has been debated in Spain, the United States and other countries. Latin Americans.
For Dussán, the aging of the population, which puts the sustainability of the pension system at risk, makes this discussion increasingly important, but he clarified that “It is not just a problem for Colombia, it is a global problem and, of course, governments have to be prepared for these types of events that arise”.
(See: Colpensiones and its unions sat down to negotiate again, after overcoming strikes).
According to the official, young people have to be responsible and contribute and save more so that this generation of old people, who are more than 3 million people who did not have the opportunities, can have benefits.
The role of Colpensiones
Dussán explained that under this new scheme, approved in the pension reform, Colpensiones will be the only entity that provides pensions from now on.
“The new private pension funds that are created will be able to save the money for people who want to have savings greater than 2.3 minimum wages and less than 25 minimum wages, as determined by law. Of course, the high pension subsidies”said.
The official explained that with these changes, and the arrival of millions of people to Colpensiones, the entity has incorporated a modern technological system.
(Also: Pension reform: Government would present a project to adjust articles of the final text).
“We also signed an agreement with the Bogotá telephone company, advisors and companies to keep employment histories up to date and resolve guardianships. We have a very well-trained team; we are working with companies that have the capacity, intelligence and technology” , said.
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Regarding the possibility of the Constitutional Court declaring the pension reform unviable, to which several detractors have announced lawsuits, Jaime Dussán said that “First let President Petro sanction the law and publish it, then 1,000 lawsuits will be presented. Some will have legal responsibility and it will be the Constitutional Court that will review whether the normal procedure was followed. I believe it was normal because no part was violated constitutional or legal, there is no legal defect there”.
He added that “This is a mechanism that the opposition uses, we were a political opposition recently and we also announced demands, demonstrations and a thousand things. That is political activity, Colombian democracy, which seems very important to me instead of using guns. It is better silence the rifles, open our mouths a little in a responsible manner and intelligence will lead us to the Court ruling in its legal knowledge and understanding, meanwhile, President Petro will sanction the law and it will begin to be applied because we are convinced that both the “Congress of the Republic and Colpensiones did it well”.
For his part, after the approval of the pension reform, Santiago Montenegro, president of Asofondos, pointed out that some approved chapters may be more harmful and leave a greater debt for young people.
“Asofondos had insisted on the need for a reform that would resolve underlying problems, such as the low coverage of the entire system and the inequity and unsustainability in the public system. However, the approved reform does not increase pension coverage, although it did “It expands the coverage of subsidies. It also does not eliminate subsidies for high pensions, although it reduces them considerably, it continues to provide subsidies to high-income people and forces everyone to be in a subsidized system.”said.
If you want to read the complete interview with the president of Colpensiones, click here.
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With information from Economy and Business EL TIEMPO
