The mandatory private pension funds, which make the second pillar of Romania’s pension system, currently have 6.6 million participants and manage over EUR 5 billion worth of net assets, said  Raluca Tintoiu, president of the Romanian Private Pension Funds' Association (APAPR).

However, there are still many Romanians who know almost nothing about the private pension system, although some of the social contributions they pay go into private pension funds, according to APAPR’s representative.

According to a study carried out by APAPR, at least 30% of the Romanians haven’t heard about the mandatory private pension pillar whereas 40% of the people don’t know what the contribution level to the pension funds is. The third pillar, which is made of the optional private pension funds, is underdeveloped, because Romanians don’t understand the need for this form of savings, Tintoiu said, according to Agerpres.

An employee now supports 1.3 pensioners in Romania, but the tendency will worsen in a few decades, and one employee will support about 2.5 pensioners, Tintoiu said.

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editor@romania-insider.com