THE Department of Finance (DOF) has expressed its full support for the congressional proposal to further deepen the domestic capital markets by building a sustainable corporate pension system that will help secure the future of Filipino workers and their families, while making available massive volumes of capital in the financial sector to help fuel the economy’s strong and sustainable growth.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said overhauling the country’s underdeveloped corporate pension system will be “a win-win for all” against the backdrop of the protracted Covid-19 pandemic, given these positive outcomes expected from this proposed reform.
The bill centers on the establishment of an Employee Pension and Retirement Income Account (EPRIA), which is similar to the portable, employee-managed retirement accounts in developed economies that ensure workers continue to contribute to, and grow, their pension accounts even when they transfer from one job to another.
“The move to reform our corporate pension system, which has been underdeveloped for far too long, presents us with a wealth of benefits that go beyond increasing the efficiency of our capital markets. This creates a vast opportunity for ordinary Filipinos to take part in the development of our financial sector and our economy,” said Dominguez during the hearing of the House committee on banks and financial intermediaries.