The Russian government on Thursday told millions of future pensioners to rely on themselves rather than the state support after retirement.
Russia's low birthrate means its population is aging, and the government is bracing to tackle the growing number of old age pensioners. The latest pension reform aims to encourage people to complement meager state pensions with personal savings, thus removing pressure from the budget.
"Everyone should choose a future strategy, be it a dependable family, long-term savings, or spending cuts in old age," Igor Shuvalov, a powerful first deputy prime minister who heads the government anti-crisis staff, told an economic conference in Moscow.
Russian parliamentary speaker Boris Gryzlov said earlier in January the average retirement pension would stand at 8,400 rubles ($280) by the end of 2010, roughly the projected poverty line of 8,590 rubles ($288).
The government says it could afford to pay decent pensions in the past, when there were three to four active employees for every retiree, but there are less than two working people per pensioner now, and the situation is predicted to worsen.
The Russian Financial Markets Service forecast earlier funded pensions would reach 800-900 billion rubles ($30 bln) by 2010.
Shuvalov said he hoped the rise in the living standards would allow younger Russians to accumulate resources for decent pensions.
"I believe the situation will change, with the middle class to grow substantially by 2020 as the economy and national prosperity go up, which will increase significantly the number of those who can afford pension savings," Shuvalov said.
He did not explain how people approaching the pension age could help themselves.
MOSCOW, January 21 (RIA Novosti)
