PILLAR: No mass exodus expected.

(From The Slovak Spectator)

Continued from pg 1

But neither the social insurer nor the managers of private pension funds expect there to be any major exodus by the 1.5 million people who currently save for their pensions in the second pillar.

The government reopened the second pillar from November 15, 2008 to June 30, 2009, allowing clients to transfer freely to the pay-as-you-go system. Normally transfers are not allowed, or incur a penalty. The second pillar had previously been opened between January and June 2008. During that period, more than 103,000 people quit -- and over 21,000 joined -- the second pillar.

The private second pillar has been an ongoing irritant to the government of Robert Fico, who has repeatedly cited the global economic downturn and what he has called the endangered savings of second-pillar clients as reasons for tampering with the existing system.

The government and the Labour Ministry, led by Viera Tomanova, have engaged in a major public campaign against the second pillar, calling it a hazard to people's savings.

The opposition and observers have blamed Socialna Poistovna for basing its budget on false assumptions, while the insurer has blamed the existence of the second pillar for its deepening deficit.