Tomas to Submit Law on Investing 2nd Pillar Assets in Infrastructure

Bratislava, April 7 (TASR) - The Labour Ministry will submit a law to the government that would enable pension fund-management companies to invest assets from the second (capitalisation) pension pillar in infrastructure projects, Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) told a news conference on Monday. The investments could go, for example, into the construction of rental apartments or motorways in Slovakia. "We want to allow money from the second pillar to be invested on the territory of Slovakia as well. Currently, the value of assets in the second pillar is some €17 billion," said Tomas, adding that pension fund-management companies would be able to invest in infrastructure in Slovakia on a voluntary basis, with all the limits regarding the volume of investments in specific projects preserved. According to Tomas, investments could go into constructing rental apartments, motorways, hospitals or energy infrastructure, and assets from bond, stock and index funds could be used for the projects. The ministry wants to create space for new investments in the Slovak economy through this law amendment, as serious economic damage threatens the country due to the tariffs on exports of all goods and services from the EU introduced by the United States, stated Tomas. Pension Fund Management Companies Association (ADSS) chairman Miroslav Kotov said that the ministry accepted its demand for these investments to be voluntary. The law sets the threshold for these investments at 0 percent and the ceiling limit at 5 percent. At the same time, it was agreed that such investments should form only a complementary part of pension fund investments, not the main one. ko/df