The retirement fund for political positions is the one with the greatest deficit in the Neuquén ISSN

to pay the retirements of people who held elective offices, provincial workers must put double what is discounted to those who are active in the same position. Indeed, of the ten pension funds administered by the Neuquén Social Security Institute, only two are surpluses: public health and municipalitieswhile the remaining eight give loss.

The case of the box of elective positions is emblematic because all those who occupy a function for which they were elected they contributed and contributed last year some $587 million but nothing less than $1,198 million was spent to pay the retirements of this regime that is commonly called “privileged”. His deficit was -104%.

It is close, but obviously with other amounts, the retirement fund of the personnel of the Provincial Directorate of Roads that had a -99.1% deficit since the roads in activity contributed $736 million, a little more than the elective ones, and retirements of $1,469 million had to be paid, according to the balance of last year of the organization that administers retirements and the welfare fund of the social work of public employees provincial.

It must be clarified that the 2,500 employees of the capital commune who contribute and contribute to the Municipal Social Welfare Institute are excluded from the municipal retirement fund, although they do contribute to the welfare fund to have the social work.

The municipal fund of all the interior of the province of Neuquén had a positive balance because between what entered and what was paid there was a balance in favor of $2,431 million. It was a little more than the other retirement subfund that also had a favorable balance. It was the one of Public Health, which contributed some $11,565 million in 2022 and paid pensions for $9,243 million.

This more detailed look at the sub-cajas allows for a more specific analysis when discussing at a political level how pensions are financed.

The ISSN was created on January 30, 1970, by integrating into the famous Law 611 the Provincial Social Welfare Fund, created by Law 178, and the Administration Medical Assistance Fund, created by Law 42. In this way, defined the ISSN as the legal continuation of the same, whose functions would be intended to carry out the purposes of the State in terms of Social Security throughout the province, in accordance with what was indicated in its first article.

The social security administration system implies that the assets contribute (the discount on the receipt) and contribute (the part that the employer puts in, that is, the State) to pay the pensions of the liabilities. This is called a delivery system. From the date of creation until 50 years later there were no major problems because the people who retired were relatively few for a number of young active employees who joined the State of Neuquén.

As indicated Néstor Martin, ISSN administrator, last year more than $97,075 million were paid to the 32,302 retirees, pensioners and retired “in time and form”. Within the payments made, the periodic updates of the retirement assets were applied, as established in the sectoral joint agreements that are agreed year after year, allocating to the ISSN the necessary time and the appropriate procedures to be able to comply with these obligations, he indicated.

He referred to the fact that sometimes the salary update, to be balanced with the increase in active workers, is done by supplementary payroll.

Neuquén has 22,793 retirees, 3,633 retiredmost of the police who have a special regime, and some 4,876 pensioners who are the beneficiaries of the retirees who contributed and contributed.
The national government has an assistance regime that rewards the administration of retirement funds and punishes those that do not comply with their comparison with the national regime in the hands of the Anses.

Neuquén meets some requirements such as the number of years that contributions are required to access retirement and the percentage of contributions and contributions that are destined to the box. It does not comply with the age that in the private sector and in the Nation is 60 for women and 65 for men, nor with the method for calculating assets.

In Neuquén, the age in the general regime is 55 and 60, in the teacher it is 52 and 55, while the Provincial Constitution must guarantee the payment of 80% of what an asset charges.

The government seeks to extract funds from royalties to alleviate the deficit

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The governor Omar Gutiérrez sent the Legislature a project to “provide a temporary and exceptional solution” to address the pension deficit that, for some years, “is becoming increasingly important,” reported the MPN deputy and president of the Finance and Budget Committee, Liliana Murisi.

It would be through the temporary use of the money that has been saved since last year in the so-called anticyclical fund with what is obtained from hydrocarbon exports. The project exceptionally enables any circumstance that may occur in the care part of the organization. Third, the bill allows the fund to be used to service the public debt.

The discussion is in the hands of the current Chamber and, as it will be renewed on December 10, it required in political terms a wink from the governor-elect on April 16, Rolando Figueroaand got it.

The project enables that, from the moment of its sanction forward and, in principle, until a first date of December 31, 2023, the funds collected for the countercyclical fund are diverted for the aforementioned purposes. Excess oil and gas export royalties were expected when the law was passed. Since 2022, it began to receive these funds with increasing importance, since there was an increase in exports due to the activity in Vaca Muerta.

With the authorization of the pipeline to Chile, if it exceeds a certain level – Murisi told UNC CALF radio – it will become an anti-cyclical fund.

In July the law could be discussed and that money would go to the ISSN coffers, without integrating the fund. “In no way do we think that this is going to solve the ISSN deficit because it has been going on for several years and is becoming more important and therefore requires some other type of measure that must be agreed upon by all the actors on the Institute’s board of directors and, in particular, long-term structural measures”, said the legislator.

The law would enable extensions for three years and, then, time is given to find another more structural solution. He estimated that the bill has the support of the majority of the deputies for the demonstration in favor of the governor-elect. “It is probable that we can sanction it as soon as possible,” he said and stressed that because it is a project that will affect income from other years, the consensus of all sectors is required. On Tuesday the administrator of the organization, Néstor Martin, will attend the Legislature.