The Senate of Chile approved the third withdrawal of private pension funds to deal with the economic crisis generated by COVID-19

The Chamber of Senators of Chile on Thursday approved a new withdrawal from private pension funds to deal with the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The initiative, which includes the possibility of subtract 10% of the sums citizens have in their pension funds, was approved by 31 votes in favor and 11 against.

The initiative, which had already been approved in the Chamber of Deputies, envisages the withdrawal of the sums which range from 1 million Chilean pesos (just over 1,400 USD) to 4.4 million (approximately $ 6,225).

The project was approved despite opposition from the government of Sebastián Piñera, who assured that “it would harm pensions” in the future, when you cut back, you are “almost 29 percent on average”. In addition, with this new withdrawal, almost half of the accounts are effectively empty. Last night, the Minister Secretary General of the Government (Segpres), Juan José Ossa, presented a request to the Constitutional Court to put an end to it.

“There are around three million Chileans who don’t have savings in their pension accounts, so they don’t have the resources to retire now or to retire in the future. If the third retreat was successful, there would already be five million people in this situation, ”Ossa warned on Tuesday.

The action led to multiple protests across the country, most in the form of cacerolazos, neighborhoods and riots. The protests began with a huge cacerolazo from 9 p.m. across the country. Regarding the clashes, one of the most critical took place in the municipality of Ñuñoa, Santiago, where at least 50 people attacked the 33rd police station, which responded by throwing tear gas and using water spray car to disperse in the crowd.

The government wanted the main economic relief measures to come from its own coffers and not from those of the private sector. Although initiatives have been announced for a total amount of USD 20,000 million -10% of Chilean GDP- Some of these rescues have been sharply criticized by Chilean citizens for assuring that they will not reach the population en masse..

The series of demands and conditions imposed on receiving aid, in addition to its delay, generated a great deal of anger and despair in a population forced to remain in quarantine for several months.

Recent statements by businessmen, such as that of the president of the National Society of Agriculture, Ricardo Ariztía, who said that in his sector “There is a lack of people who cannot work because they receive government bondsThey only increased the discontent of the population.

Pressed by the advance of the third retreat, Piñera announced Monday the extension of emergency family income (IFE) to 13.5 of the 19 million inhabitants of the country, who will receive a monthly bonus of 100,000 pesos ($ 143) for one quarter.

“We understand the shortcomings and the pains that vulnerable families and many middle-class families face,” said the president, who also opened up “to seek agreements to increase tax collection, including more tax collection. ‘efforts by higher income groups’. However, this announcement did not convince even the parliamentarians of his coalition.

KEEP READING: