María del Rocío Sáenz, executive president of the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), declared that as long as the necessary measures on financial strengthening are taken, the Disability, Old Age and Death Regime (IVM) will be enough so all Costa Ricans can have their pensions.
The statements were made after knowing about an actuarial study from the University of Costa Rica (UCR), which assures that if decisions are not made in the short term, an irreversible crisis could start in 2022.
Saenz’ position is similar to Rodrigo Arias’, a researcher at UCR, who said that there is still time to make the necessary changes.
The main problem the IVM regime faces is the population’s aging: people are living longer and the birth rate is low.
Arias added that while in 1979 each pension was based on. 32.4 contributors, nowadays it’s based on 6.7 contributors.
Another important factor is related to a change in the wage contracts of Costa Rican workers. According to the president of the CCSS, the country has changed the fixed contracts by short-term, partial contracts.
The actuarial expert indicated that the risk for pensions is that in the absence of measures, the CCSS faces external problems such as poor performance in investments or problems in the economy, affecting the growth of wages.