Strict Directives to Facilitate Pensions and Insurance Disbursements

Awareness-raising Plan on New Pension and Insurance Law Benefits

Inquiries about the New Pension and Insurance Law have been made by various officials from countries seeking to update their Social insurance systems following the Egyptian experience, especially after the Greek economic crisis prompted many countries around the world to reconsider their current social insurance systems, said Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, the Minister of Finance.

Germany, for example, is considering the possibility of raising the retirement age to 67, while France has already raised its retirement age up to 62. Likewise, Spain and England, as well as some Arab countries, are exploring the prospects of amending their insurance systems and raising the retirement age to 68, due to deteriorating pension and insurance systems in these countries, following the recent global economic crisis, Dr. Ghali added.

The new Egyptian Insurance and Pensions Law takes into account such situations, as it gradually raises the retirement age to 61 in 2015, then to 62 in 2018, 63 in 2021, 64 in 2024 and up to 65 in 2027, he pointed out. 

A delegation from Guatemala will arrive in Cairo soon, to learn about social insurance and pension systems applied in Egypt, especially for irregular labor. The delegates will make use of the Egyptian experience in the preparation of a new insurance law in Guatemala, the minister added. The visit will be funded by the delegates themselves who come to Egypt upon their own initiative.

The delegation, which includes 5 members of the Social Insurance Committee in the Guatemalan Congress, will hold several working sessions with officials of the National Social Insurance Authority (NSIA), the Manpower Committee of the Egyptian People's Assembly, as well as other insurance Egyptian bodies, Dr, Ghali noted.

According to Assistant Finance Minister Dr. Mohamed Ahmed Mu'iet, Guatemala's interest in the Egyptian law stems from the fact that it is currently drafting a new law on social insurance and pensions. This law aims at providing a wider insurance coverage to most Guatemalans, especially irregular labourers. The Egyptian law does focus on irregular and seasonal labourers, such as quarriers, construction workers, fishermen and farming day labourers, who amount to more than 30m people, Dr. Mu'iet said. To ensure a comprehensive social care for those people, the new law provides for the creation of a special fund to finance their insurance benefits. Furthermore, to urge them to participate in the insurance systems, the Public Treasury will offer a 25% of all insurance deductions of the said categories.

Mr. Armando Rodriguez, Head of the Social Insurance Committee in the Guatemalan Congress, had addressed the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to visit Egypt, following an international convention in Stockholm, Sweden, on new approaches to managing social insurance and pension systems. In the convention, Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, the Minister of Finance, gave an elaborate overview of the Egyptian program designed to reform the social insurance and pension system, with the aim of improving the living standards of pensioners.

On his part, Dr. Ghali gave strict directives to all staff members of the social insurance departments in various governorates to facilitate pension disbursement procedures and other services given to pensioners and their families, and to explain the numerous benefits of the new law, specially the mechanism of raising the low pensions that will be applicable as of next Thursday. Also, the different benefits to be provided to irregular and seasonal labourers will have to be fully explained.

Dr. Ghali further entrusted the National Social Insurance Authority (NSIA) with planning a full campaign to educate people on the new law and developments in the social insurance system, in addition to the various problems have been already been solved, in an effort to overcome the negatives of previous systems.