Skarbiec Emerytura calls for changes to pension fund regulations

A leading domestic retirement fund, Skarbiec Emerytura, called yesterday for an urgent overhaul of rules governing the four-year-old pension fund industry, which is already running short of attractive options on the shallow local market. Jaroslaw Bauc, who heads the Skarbiec Emerytura fund, said in an interview that government plans to issue special bonds to back infrastructure projects and repay arrears owed to the pension funds could curb their appetite for treasuries. Bauc, finance minister in the last right-wing government, also said some funds could find local stocks more attractive this year after investing mainly in government bonds in 2002. Apart from relaxing investment rules, the government should also radically cut spending to reinforce the positive impact that Poland's EU accession will have on the investment climate. "In the name of future pensioners, our rigid investment rules must be liberalized. The funds must diversify their portfolios if only to differ from one another," Bauc said. (Reuters) A.Z.