Publication:
Mongolia Policy Options for Pension Reform

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.64 MB)
378 downloads
English Text (392.17 KB)
98 downloads
Published
2011-01-20
ISSN
Date
2014-08-19
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
This report was prepared in response to a request by the Mongolian authorities for an evaluation of the Mongolian pension system and policy reform options. The report identifies a number of design weaknesses in the current pension insurance scheme and needs for reform in response to changes in the Mongolian economy. The summary of this report provides a brief synopsis for key policymakers of the rationale for reform and policy options considered. The main text responds to requests by the Mongolian authorities for the Bank's assessment. It considers the design architecture and parameters of the pension insurance scheme, the design of non- contributory elderly social assistance, pension provisions for herders and the rationale and design options for a pension reserve fund. The appendices provide more detailed analysis for technical staff including current pension insurance parameters; needs and policy options for herders and other informal sector workers; options for establishing a pension reserve fund; and elaboration of the actuarial modeling methodology employed, key assumptions and parameters, and detailed findings. Mongolia's economy, labor market and fiscal position are undergoing rapid changes as a result of growth in the mining sector. These changes present both challenges and opportunities for reform in pension provisions.
Link to Data Set
Citation
World Bank. 2011. Mongolia Policy Options for Pension Reform. © http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19460 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Digital Object Identifier
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    China's Pension System : A Vision
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2013-02-27) Dorfman, Mark C.; Holzmann, Robert; O'Keefe, Philip; Wang, Dewen; Sin, Yvonne; Hinz, Richard
    China is at a critical juncture in its economic transition. A comprehensive reform of its pension and social security systems is an essential element of a strategy aimed toward achieving a harmonious society and sustainable development. Among policy makers, a widely held view is that the approach to pension provision and reform efforts piloted over the last 10-15 years is insufficient to enable China's economy and population to realize its development objectives in the years ahead. This volume suggests a national pension system that no longer distinguishes along urban and rural locational or hukou lines yet takes account of the diverse nature of employment relations and capacity of individuals to make contributions. This volume is organized as follows: the main text outlines this vision, focusing on summarizing the key features of a proposed long-term pension system. It first examines key trends motivating the need for reform then outlines the proposed three-pillar design and the rationale behind the design choices. It then moves on to examine financing options. The text continues by discussing institutional reform issues, and the final section concludes. The six appendixes provide additional analytical detail supporting the findings in the main text. The pension system design can play an important role in supporting or constraining such economic and demographic transitions: 1) fragmentation and lack of portability of rights hinder labor market efficiency and contribute to coverage gaps; 2) multiple schemes for salaried workers, civil servants, and, in some areas, migrants similarly impact labor markets; 3) legacy costs that are largely financed through current pension contributions weaken incentives for compliance and accurate wage reporting; 4) very limited risk pooling and interurban resource transfers limit the insurance function of the urban pension system and create spatial disparities in old-age income protection; 5) low retirement ages affect incentives and benefits and undermine fiscal sustainability; and 6) relatively low returns on individual accounts result in replacement rates significantly less than anticipated while at the macro level, are likely to inhibit wider efforts to stimulate higher domestic consumption.
  • Publication
    Adequacy of Retirement Income after Pension Reforms in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe : Eight Country Studies
    (World Bank, 2009) Guven, Ufuk; Holzmann, Robert
    All of the former transition economies in Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe (CESE) inherited from the era of central planning traditional defined-benefit pension systems financed on a pay-as-you-go basis. Like many pay-as-you-go public pension systems elsewhere in the world, CESE pension systems were in need of reforms to address short-term fiscal imbalances and longer-term issues relating to population aging. Reforms were also needed to adjust benefit and contribution structures to meet the challenges of-as well as to take advantage of opportunities relating to the transition to a market economy, including the widespread adoption of multiplier designs with improved risk-sharing across funded and unfunded pillars. By 2006, most countries in Europe and Central Asia had introduced a voluntary private pension scheme. By 2008, 14 countries roughly half of all countries in the region had legislated mandatory private pension schemes, and all but one of those schemes (the one in Ukraine) had been introduced. These reforms shared a number of common objectives, in particular putting the systems on a sounder financial footing and better aligning them with the (very different) incentives of a market economy. This report is organized as follows. The first section discusses the motivation for reform across the eight countries included in the study against the backdrop of the regional (and global) trend toward multiplier pension arrangements. The second section summarizes the key provisions of the reformed systems in the eight countries within the World Bank's five-pillar framework for pension system design. The third section summarizes pension system performance against the two crucially important dimensions of adequacy and sustainability. The last section provides some policy recommendations for addressing gaps in reforms and taking advantage of further opportunities.
  • Publication
    Kyrgyz Republic Public Expenditure Review Policy Notes : Pensions
    (Washington, DC, 2014-05) World Bank
    Today, the Kyrgyz pension system plays a major role in poverty alleviation of the elderly but this role is diminishing fast due to low coverage of working age population. The system currently provides pensions to more than 90 percent of the population over age 65 thus being a significant buffer against poverty. Over time, though, the poverty reduction effect of the pension system is expected to weaken substantially as the current low coverage rates among the working age population translate into much lower coverage rates of about only 60 percent for the future old age population. As a result, poverty rates among the old-age population will grow and government spending on social pensions will increase dramatically. The structure of this chapter is as follows. The next section provides an overview of the current pension system and the main issues facing it. Section three presents the results of the financial projections for the current system assuming a no-reform scenario and the implications of doing nothing on the finances of the Social Fund, the cost to the government and the expected benefits (baseline projections). Section four considers several broad reform options and their impact with respect to the financial sustainability and affordability of the system as well as adequacy of benefits. Section five outlines the issues remaining beyond the scope of this study which require further analysis. Annex one summarizes the main parameters of the current pension system and annexes two provides a brief description of the main assumptions used in the projections and the projection methodology. The diagnosis of the current system and the evaluation of the reform options presented in this chapter are based on the simulations produced with the World Bank Pension Reform Options Simulation Toolkit (PROST) model.
  • Publication
    Mongolia : Pension Policy Challenges and Reform Options
    (Washington, DC, 2008-04-21) World Bank
    Mongolia inherited a pay-as-you go public pension system providing universal coverage and high levels of benefits (relative to pre-retirement income), consistent with the state provision of all forms of social insurance. The system was reformed in 1995, including the introduction of contributions for pensions and other social insurance, but it remained dependent upon Government transfers. The reforms improved the existing scheme but failed to achieve financial sustainability or address a number of weaknesses in the existing scheme's design, which created weak incentives for contributing to the system and benefit inequities between different groups of workers/cohorts. This policy note responds to this request, and it is part of an ongoing broader collaboration with the Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on pension reform that includes: (i) supporting the development of the policy framework for pension reform; (ii) improving the pension policy making capacity; and (iii) assisting in the identification of the institutional development needs to support the new pension system. This note identifies a number of challenges in the design and implementation of the current social insurance system that would need to be addressed to strengthen the system's ability to provide consumption smoothing and old-age income security for Mongolia's population.
  • Publication
    Republic of the Philippines Review of the Social Security System
    (Washington, DC, 2016-06-23) World Bank
    This report was prepared at the request of the Philippines Social Security System (SSS) to analyze key challenges and propose reform options to improve the sustainability and expand the coverage of old age income protection for private sector workers. A simulation employing the Pension Reform Options Simulation Toolkit (PROST) found that the SSS scheme will face outflows greater than inflows in about 20 years and depletion of its assets in about 28 years. Fortunately, its medium-term financing issues can be addressed through the gradual introduction of parametric reforms that shield workers and retirees from abrupt changes in contributions and benefits. At the same time, the Philippines faces a challenge to improve the defacto coverage of workers by Social Security, and to increase the income protection coverage of the elderly. Options suggested include SSS measures to leverage its identification system and introduce a special instrument for informal workers. Rather than introducing matching contribution subsidies to expand coverage, it was suggested to broaden the scope of beneficiaries eligible for social pensions. Beyond the scope of the SSS, additional measures were suggested including those to improve the access and efficiency of contributions and payments systems, strengthening mobile-money platforms and efforts to improve access to savings instruments, particularly for small and isolated savers. The report points out that the key means of improving coverage lies beyond the scope of social security or pensions, namely, to improve the quantity and quality of wage-based employment.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Digital Africa
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-13) Begazo, Tania; Dutz, Mark Andrew; Blimpo, Moussa
    All African countries need better and more jobs for their growing populations. "Digital Africa: Technological Transformation for Jobs" shows that broader use of productivity-enhancing, digital technologies by enterprises and households is imperative to generate such jobs, including for lower-skilled people. At the same time, it can support not only countries’ short-term objective of postpandemic economic recovery but also their vision of economic transformation with more inclusive growth. These outcomes are not automatic, however. Mobile internet availability has increased throughout the continent in recent years, but Africa’s uptake gap is the highest in the world. Areas with at least 3G mobile internet service now cover 84 percent of Africa’s population, but only 22 percent uses such services. And the average African business lags in the use of smartphones and computers as well as more sophisticated digital technologies that catalyze further productivity gains. Two issues explain the usage gap: affordability of these new technologies and willingness to use them. For the 40 percent of Africans below the extreme poverty line, mobile data plans alone would cost one-third of their incomes—in addition to the price of access devices, apps, and electricity. Data plans for small- and medium-size businesses are also more expensive than in other regions. Moreover, shortcomings in the quality of internet services—and in the supply of attractive, skills-appropriate apps that promote entrepreneurship and raise earnings—dampen people’s willingness to use them. For those countries already using these technologies, the development payoffs are significant. New empirical studies for this report add to the rapidly growing evidence that mobile internet availability directly raises enterprise productivity, increases jobs, and reduces poverty throughout Africa. To realize these and other benefits more widely, Africa’s countries must implement complementary and mutually reinforcing policies to strengthen both consumers’ ability to pay and willingness to use digital technologies. These interventions must prioritize productive use to generate large numbers of inclusive jobs in a region poised to benefit from a massive, youthful workforce—one projected to become the world’s largest by the end of this century.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, January 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-01-10) World Bank
    Global growth is projected to decelerate sharply, reflecting synchronous policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Investment growth in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs) is expected to remain below its average rate of the past two decades. Further adverse shocks could push the global economy into recession. Small states are especially vulnerable to such shocks because of the reliance on external trade and financing, limited economic diversification, elevated debt, and susceptibility to natural disasters. Against this backdrop, it is critical that EMDE policy makers ensure that any fiscal support is focused on vulnerable groups, that inflation expectations remain well anchored, and that financial systems continue to be resilient. Urgent global and national efforts are also needed to mitigate the risks of global recession and debt distress in EMDEs, and to support a major increase in EMDE investment.
  • Publication
    Business Ready 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03) World Bank
    Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.
  • Publication
    Remarks to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting
    (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-11-20) Malpass, David
    World Bank Group President David Malpass said that while some countries are recovering, the pandemic is still taking a terrible toll, with poverty levels rising sharply. He highlighted on the health emergency response programs in one hundred twelve countries using a fast-track mechanism that is now able to access a further window of twelve billion in funding for vaccine purchases and delivery. He also mentioned that the World Bank is already at work in cooperation with WHO, UNICEF, the Global Fund and GAVI on rapid vaccine deployment readiness assessments for one hundred countries. He spoke about IFC working in coordination with CEPI to invest a further four billion in manufacturing and distribution of vaccines and products that support vaccination programs. He recognized that fragile conflict and violence (FCV) states are most in need, and World Bank's engagement with them. Under his Presidency, the World Bank Group has invested more in climate finance than at any time in its history. He mentioned that IDA is frontloading its financing to make more resources available for the poorest countries. He highlighted on an important step that the G20 call on DSSI beneficiary countries to commit to disclose all public sector financial commitments. The Development Committee that asked the Bank and the IMF to propose more actions to address the unsustainable debt burdens of low- and middle-income countries. He concluded that the fuller transparency is the only way to balance the interests of the people with the interests of those signing the debt and investment contracts.
  • Publication
    South Asia Development Update, October 2024: Women, Jobs, and Growth
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-10) World Bank
    South Asia’s growth is on track to exceed earlier expectations, in a broad-based upturn. The region is expected to remain the fastest-growing among emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs). Several risks could upend this generally promising outlook, including extreme weather events, social unrest, and policy missteps, such as reform delays. But South Asian countries also have considerable untapped potential that could help them further boost productivity growth and employment and adapt to climate change. In particular, with about two-thirds of the region’s working-age women out of the labor force, raising female employment rates to those of men could increase per capita income by as much as one-half. Measures to accelerate job creation, remove obstacles to women working, and equalize gender rights would be more effective if combined with a shift toward social norms that looked more favorably on working women. Also, most South Asian countries rank among the EMDEs least open to global trade and investment. Greater openness could boost women’s employment, spur the growth of firms, and allow the region to take better advantage of the reshaping of global supply chains and trade. Reducing the cost of conducting business could help the region better harness large-scale remittance inflows.