Treasury to present Mazuz with pension safety net plan
Finance Ministry to put forward plan meant to secure savings in pension, retirement funds despite claims that move is financially irresponsible
The Treasury announced Sunday that it will be presenting an official government plan meant to protect saving placed in pension and retirement funds for Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to review.
With the general elections nearing, and in order to avoid the appearance of campaign economics, the Finance Ministry has to present Mazuz with any major financial plan before it can present it to the government.
The "safety net" plan is said to include contingencies which will allow the Finance Ministry to interfere in stock market trade, and temper any major slumps experienced by the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, should the need arise.
The plan will also include minimal contingencies made to protect the saving put in pension and retirement funds – a step said to be taken against the professional opinion of senior officials within the Treasury.
"At the end of the day, it's up to the government to approve or deny this plan," a source in the Finance Ministry told Ynet.
The ministry refused to divulge any of the future plan's details, but according to conservative assessments, the plan is meant to protect the saving of workers over the age of 60, against any future stock market slumps.
Ofer Eini, chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, demanded that those who have suffered losses in the recent market slump be retroactively reimbursed, but the Treasury denied the claim, calling the move "an irresponsible, politically motivated demand, which the State would not be able to afford in three years."
The ministry's market stimulus plan underwent similar scrutiny; but unlike the latter, the ministry seems hellbent on convincing the attorney general that the safety net plan is irresponsible, and that it will carry serious budgetary ramifications for future governments.
Sources in the Histadrut said that the Treasury was not negotiating the details of the plan with them, and that they were not familiar with the plan submitted to the Attorney General's Office.
The Finance Ministry refused to comment.
