He stated that the priorities for his new term of office included reforming the public pay-as-you-go pension system, which currently provides benefits to around 45 million people for an annual outlay of $ billion, or less than 5 per cent of GDP.
The aim of the proposed reform is to prevent the emergence of growing financial deficits from 2018 on; it hinges on the introduction of individual accounts which would progressively be credited with part of the contributions presently paid into the public system.