Pension benefits to go towards economy, not right to talk about hampering economic growth - Labor Minister
MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Labor and Social Affairs Minister Mikhail Topilin has refuted several experts' statements that the decision to direct accumulated pension savings at the insurance portion of the pension system could remove money from the economy and hamper economic growth.
"It's not like that at all. When they say that this will cost 1% of economic growth, they're wrong," he said in an interview with TV channel Russia-24.
"No one ever figured up how much these investments gave in previous years or where they were going when money was sent to the accumulative portion," he said, adding that no one had ever made such calculations.
"When money goes to the insurance portion [in line with the government's decision], they determine the rights of future pensioners with a guarantee," Topilin said, adding that this money would go into the economy without question.
He did not confirm that the funds freed up in the pension system as a result of the fact that they will not go towards the accumulative portion of the system would go to Crimea. "I don't know anything about that yet," he said, adding that the corresponding decisions would be made during the preparation of the next federal budget, which is set to be ready by around September 15.
Topilin said the draft budget would be reviewed by the government on September 18-19.