OPINION: Corruption threat to pensions

The defined benefit reserve fund of the Disability, Old Age and Death (IVM) program has its days counted. During this or next year, the Social Security Fund (CSS) will begin to consume reserves that could be exhausted in a maximum of 7 or 8 years. The CSS is the largest company in the Panamanian State, with the volume of its economic activity almost double that of the Panama Canal. However, it has not been managed with the seriousness with which the inter-oceanic route has been administered. On the contrary, clientelism, corruption, bureaucracy, and inefficiency have been the norm. This, added to the lack of political will to make the required adjustments, brings us closer to that feared day in which the payment of pensions and pensions becomes the main problem of public finances and, therefore, of the Panamanian economy. No one expected this administration to solve the Caja’s problem, but at least it left reliable actuarial reports that allowed for an accurate diagnosis of the problem. That was not done and, as a result, the government that emerges on May 5 will face a tremendous and pressing challenge – LAPRENSA,  Apl.18