Iraq’s pension fund cancellation sparks alarm
Shafaq News – Baghdad
On Friday, Iraqi economists warned that canceling the State Employee Pension Fund would be a “dangerous step” by the government that jeopardizes the rights of beneficiaries.
The fund is an economic entity under the Ministry of Finance’s National Pension Authority. It provides benefits to anyone entitled to a pension, retirement gratuity, or lump-sum payment.
Economist Hilal al-Taan told Shafaq News that one result of the fund’s cancellation had been delays in pension payments over the past two months, warning that “further delays may occur in the remaining months of this year unless the Ministry of Finance and the Pension Authority adopt practical measures to set a clear timetable for disbursing pensions.”
Retirees themselves expressed confusion over the fund’s purpose, with many acknowledging they had little knowledge of how it operated. Retiree Mahdi Saleh told Shafaq News, “I only learned of the fund’s existence when I saw the news in the media. I thought the government had canceled our pensions, but I was told it was only an organizational matter.”
Attempts by Shafaq News to examine the fund’s activities revealed scant information. The Finance Ministry’s website contains a section dedicated to the fund with nine links, yet all are empty except for one page that briefly describes its identity. Despite more than 15 years since its establishment, the site remains virtually devoid of content.
