Gov't to pay back zł. 9.5 billion to pension funds

The government is working on a law which would pay back an estimated zł. 9.5 billion in debt to private pension funds, starting from October 2003, deputy economy minister Krzysztof Pater said yesterday. He said the government should debate the measure by the end of May, as it wants to pay back the entire sum by 2007, a year later than previously thought. The initial plan envisages paying back the arrears with floating rate bonds with maturities not longer than 12 years. "The process of transferring the bonds should be completed by the end of 2007. We should assume that the largest transfers will take place in 2004," Pater said in an interview. Funds currently hold 70% of their assets in T-bonds and 24% on the WSE. Analysts say that any change in their portfolios, such as gaining new government bonds in exchange for debts, could push the funds to rearrange their positions and move markets. (Reuters) M.M.