Pension funds protected from haircut, says Venizelos
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has given assurances that social security funds and pension payments will not be affected by the agreement on a 50 percent haircut for Greek bondholders.
Greek social security funds hold some 25 billion in national debt and there are fears that the writedown could lead to the pension system being overhauled.
Venizelos suggested that some of the fears were prompted by a ?systematic effort? to mislead people on the implications of the agreement in Brussels.
The minister suggested that the funds, which are set to lose some 12.5 billion euros in the haircut, would be shored up by the transfer of state assets, a move that would not add to public debt, according to Venizelos.
?The government is also looking at the possibility of creating a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in which the funds will be shareholders and to which state assets could be transferred, so any losses could be covered.?
Venizelos stressed that nothing agreed between Greece and its eurozone partners on October 26 would affect the size of people?s pensions.
