'I have a dream': Economist Voļskis wants Latvia to create a fund for pension savings

Economist Edgars Voļskis has outlined two goals he would like to see achieved by the next Saeima term.

A fund for second-pillar pension money

According to Voļskis, Latvia should establish a special fund to take over the management of residents' second-pillar pension savings. Currently, this money is managed by private fund managers, but the economist believes an alternative approach is needed for handling these funds. He hopes such a fund could be created already during the next Saeima's term, meaning within the coming years.

Keeping the population from shrinking

The second task Voļskis raised for the next parliament concerns demographics. He stresses that it is important for Latvia's population, four years from now when the new Saeima's term ends, to be at least as large as it is today. In other words, the goal should be to halt the decline in population rather than allow it to continue.

Voļskis described both of these aims as his personal wish — a 'dream' — for the direction Latvia should take in the coming years. Both issues he raised — the management model for second-pillar pensions and the country's demographic trajectory — have long been regarded in Latvia as significant challenges affecting both the long-term stability of the economy and the resilience of the social system.