Premier Jiang Yi-huah today said that however painful pension reform may be, it must be enacted now.
At the annual labor policy forum hosted by the Council of Labor Affairs in Penghu County, the premier said the administration is keen to tackle the pension system insolvency problem that has been precipitated by changes in Taiwan's population structure. These problems cannot be passed off to future generations, he said, adding that reform will build a stronger foundation for Taiwan. He called on all social sectors to lend their support.
Jiang said the government must continue promoting beneficial policies while doing away with harmful ones. The latter requires reform. The primary mission, however, is to extend economic benefits to all: if the government cannot revitalize the economy, transform industries, create jobs and raise wages, then the nation will have a bleak outlook.
Jiang also said he hoped to devote most of his time in office to promoting beneficial policies in order to turn things around for Taiwan. Providing better job opportunities for people now and for the next generation is the most important task. He hoped to present Penghu residents with exciting policies and results on his next visit.
The premier pointed out that the government is aiming to reform not only the Labor Insurance Annuity (LIA) scheme but also the long-existing pension systems for military employees, civil servants and public school teachers. This round of reforms will thus be conducted across the board, and the government will not favor any particular group, Jiang pointed out.
Premier Jiang said that last year the Executive Yuan established a pension reform task force, for which he served as convener. Since October, the task force has held 124 forums gathering opinions from parliamentarians, academics, experts, active and retired workers, military personnel and teachers. The government incorporated the views of all the sectors and announced the pension reform schemes on January 30, 2013, including changes to the civil servant system under the Examination Yuan, as well as the labor, military and teachers systems under the Executive Yuan. The reforms were drafted at the same time to bring more balance and cohesion among the different schemes.
Some believe the reform will hurt workers, Jiang said. They maintain that since the system is not expected to become insolvent until 2027, it is best to leave things as is or have the government make up for the fund's shortage. But the fund's financial sustainability problem must be dealt with sooner or later, the premier emphasized. Changes in the population structure aside, the amount of lump-sum payments withdrawn from the LIA last October was four times higher than normal, setting off a widespread panic. Reform is unavoidable, the premier stressed, and the Executive Yuan will implement the current reform package gradually so as to minimize impact.