Kazakhstanis had over $21 billion in pension savings as of June 1, 2014, Tengrinews reports citing the Single Accumulative Pension Fund (SAPF).
Kazakhstanis had over $21 billion in pension savings as of June 1, 2014, Tengrinews reports citing the Single Accumulative Pension Fund (SAPF).
All the savings along with the investment incomes of all depositors have been transferred from privately-held funds to the SAFP. “Over 270 thousand agreements have been signed for mandatory pension contributions. In addition, 7 thousand more are on the stage of signing. The mandatory pension contributions have amounted to $33 million since the beginning of the year,” the press office said.
As of 1 June 2014 there are 240 branch offices of the SAFP across the country. The fund consists of 18 regional branches in Astana, Almaty, Zhezkazgan, Semei and other cities. Moreover, the SFAP along with the Ministries is working to ensure clients’ access to the information concerning their savings through e-gov online service and Public Service Centers.
As of December 1, 2012 there were 11 pension funds operating in Kazakhstan, with combined savings standing at around $21 billion.
But the following year, as part of the latest pension reform, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed the Government in late January to merge all the pension funds into a single government-owned entity. The Single Pension Fund was launched in August 2013.
Before the decision on merging all the country’s private pension funds, then-PM Serik Akhmetov said that “the current service fee rates applied by the country’s pension funds have been reducing the people’s pension savings by 26%”.
Altogether, there are 9.7 million accounts, with the overall savings amount standing at $21.3 billion. Kazakhstan’s Central Bank manages the assets.
Writing by Gyuzel Kamalova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina