Warning experts: Pension system threatens to blow up budget!

Warning experts: Pension system threatens to blow up budget!
In the context of a critical examination of the double budget 2025/2026, five leading economic experts considered the planned savings insufficiently. In a meeting of the National Council's budget committee, the experts determined that there was a lack of necessary structural reforms. Central areas that, in their view, require a comprehensive reform, are the pension system, public administration as well as healthcare and the federal system. Christoph Badelt, the president of the fiscal council, describes the budget as a "good start" and at the same time warns of growing gap between expenses and income. In particular, the abolition of the climate bonus is considered problematic, since it is disproportionately impacting in terms of income, as reported.
Badelt forecast that an additional consolidation requirement of around 6 billion euros will be required by 2028 to achieve a deficit of less than 3 percent. In his opinion, stronger measures must be taken into account on the income page in the form of a higher taxation of assets. Georg Feigl from the Chamber of Labor, which sees an urgent need for stronger financial measures, represents a similar position. Monika Köppl-Turyna from the Ecoaustria Institute emphasizes the pension system as the main cause of the increasing budget and warn of rising grants to pension insurance in the next two years, which could increase by almost 3 billion euros.
criticism and request to reform
The criticism of reform policy is reinforced by Margit Schratzenstaller from the WIFO, which demands deeper reforms in the pension area. It also points out that ecological aspects are neglected in the current discussion and is in favor of an inflation adjustment for environmental taxes. Expert Martin Gundinger from the Austrian Economics Center sees government action skeptical and expects a deterioration in the budget situation until the end of the legislative period. In the coming days, the parliament will advise the individual budget chapter, while the budget accompanying law includes a total of 72 amendments to the law.
A vote on the draft budget in the committee is planned for June 11th, followed by a three -day budget debate in the National Council, which begins on June 16. The final adoption of the double budget is planned for June 18. Badelt also calls for a review of the statutory retirement age and sees necessary long -term measures to reduce demographic pressure on the state budget. He warns that the budget deficit could increase by two to three percent per year without such action.
pension system in focus
The challenges in the pension system are not only of an economic nature, but also affect social justice. Various reports and studies offer in -depth insights into pension insurance in Austria. The report “The Pensions System in Austria - An overview 2025” gives a comprehensive overview of statutory pension insurance. The possibility of a factual adaptation of the pensions is discussed, since after 2030 a stagnation of the guest houses is forecast. Health expenditure also represents a significant challenge that could have a negative impact on the budget and require control because they grow faster than the income, as is emphasized by Badelt.
The situation shows that without short -term and long -term reforms, especially in the pension area, Austria could face financial challenges that would have a negative impact on future generations. Another year of recession could further exacerbate the budget situation, which underlines the urgency of a need for action. The EU Commission also plans to calculate military expenses from the deficit calculation, which could theoretically reduce the pressure to consolidate.
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Ort | Wien, Österreich |
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