Aharon Chilingaryan: new sources of financing will appear with introduction of new funded pension scheme

PanARMENIAN.Net - Member of the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) Board Aharon Chilingaryan said that the process of adoption of the RA Law on Funded Pension Scheme can be launched in the Armenian National Assembly soon.

In his report on the CBA functions in the pension field submitted to a seminar in Tsaghkadzor on June 18-20, Chilingaryan said that the RA Law on Funded Pension Scheme is expected to be approved by the Armenian National Assembly in 2010.

According to him, a volunteer pension scheme will be introduced in 2011, what will allow creating certain grounds for transfer to a compulsory funded pension scheme.

Mr. Chilingaryan noted that the volunteer pension scheme may be introduced even earlier, as the bill does not define certain terms - it reads that the law will be enforced in 10 days after its publications.

Besides, the Law on Single Tax as well as the system of personal registration at the State Revenue Committee will be enforced from 2013.

"If we manage to take all these steps, we will have another year to test the new scheme, while the compulsory funded pension scheme will be enacted from 2014," said Chilingaryan.

He stressed that the new pension scheme will contribute to accumulation of financial resources in the country - creation of long-term money, what in its turn will provide with alternative opportunities for financing of small and medium enterprises, as well as big projects in the country.

Armenia envisages introducing the volunteer funded pension and compulsory funded pension schemes in 2011 and 2014 respectively.

The seminar was organized by the USAID/Armenia Pension and Labor Market Reform Program, the EU consultative group and Armenian government's working group under the program on public awareness of pension reforms.