Future pensioners likely to lose out in ZUS bonds for cash swap

The State Treasury has taken over the financial liabilities of the Social Insurance Administration's (ZUS) to open pension funds, totaling zł. 10 billion, and decided to pay them back in the form of bonds and not in cash. The Chamber of Commerce of Pension Funds (IGTE) president Ewa Lewicka believes that this could mean that future pensioners may incur substantial losses totalling zł. 150 million. She claimed that pension funds would far better benefit from cash, which they could invest in various enterprises, than from wrongly apprised bonds. Krzysztof Pater, Deputy Economy Minister, strongly disagreed with the criticism. "Funds are receiving bonds, issued by the State and these carry a specified market value for which there is a high demand among investors," he assured. (Gazeta Wyborcza p 20 http://www.onet.pl) K.Z.