South Asia Pension Forum. Cheolsu Kim

      

      SOUTH ASIA PENSION FORUM

      FOSTERING INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE

      PENSION SYSTEMS IN THE REGION

      Cheolsu Kim and Gautam Bhardwaj

       Asian Development Bank

      © 2011 Asian Development Bank

      All rights reserved. Published 2011.

      Printed in the Philippines.

      ISBN: 978-92-9092-226-1

      Publication Stock No. RPT102814

      Cataloging-In-Publication Data

      Cheolsu Kim and Gautam Bhardwaj.

       South Asia Pension Forum: Fostering inclusive and sustainable pension systems in the region.

      Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2011.

      1. Pension system 2. South Asia. I. Asian Development Bank.

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       Acknowledgments

      This study was conducted as a component under the regional technical assistance project on Enhancing Social Protection Initiatives in Developing Member Countries funded under a regional technical assistance. The authors greatly appreciate the feedback and views of the following key stakeholders on the proposed SAPF during country field visits and at the South Asia–level stakeholders’ workshop hosted at ADB headquarters in September 2010:

      From Bangladesh: (i) Ministry of Finance: Arastoo Khan, additional secretary of the Budget, Treasury and Debt Management Wing, Finance Department; Ranjit Kumar Chakraborty, additional secretary, Budget and Expenditure Control, Finance Division; Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, joint secretary, Treasury and Debt Management Wing and Finance Department; and Shubhashish Bose, joint secretary, Finance Division; (ii) Gregory Chen, regional representative for South Asia, C-GAP; (iii) BRAC Bank: Muhammad A. Ali, chairman; Shabbir A. Chowdhury, director of microfinance; Shameran Abed, program manager—microfinance; (iv) Shahnila Azher, private sector adviser, Department for International Development; (iv) Grameen Bank: Dipal C. Barua, managing director, Grameen Shakti; A.S.M. Mohiuddin, deputy general manager and chief of the Co-ordination and Operation Department; Mohd. Wasim Reza, assistant general manager and head of IT, Grameen Shakti;

      From India: (i) K.P. Krishnan, secretary to the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council; (ii) Ministry of Finance: Tarun Bajaj, joint secretary of insurance and pension reforms, Department of Financial Services; Shashank Saksena, director of capital markets and pension reforms, Department of Financial Services; (iii) Ajay Shah, senior fellow, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy; (iv) Vijay Mahajan, chairman, BASIX; (v) U. K. Sinha, chairman and managing director, UTI Asset Management Company Limited; (vi) Dhirendra Swarup, chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority; (vii) A. Viswanathan, central provident fund commissioner, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Ministry of Labour and Employment; (vi) Jayshreeben Vyas, managing director, SEWA Bank; and (vii) Ashish Aggarwal, executive director, Invest India Micro Pension Services;

      From Nepal: (i) Ministry of Finance: Krishna Hari Baskota, secretary (revenue); Avanindra Kumar Shrestha, financial comptroller general of Nepal; Bodh Raj Niroula, joint secretary; Durgesh Kumar Pradhan, under secretary (pension reforms); Hemantha Raj Niroula, finance officer, Financial Comptroller General’s Office; (ii) Employees Provident Fund: Ramesh Kumar Bhattarai, administrator and chief executive officer; Radha Krishna Pote, deputy chief executive officer;

      From Pakistan: Sharifullah Khan, director general, Accountant General of Pakistan Revenues; Ali Zaheer, additional chief secretary, Government of Balochistan; Shahibzada Saeed Ahmad, finance secretary, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkwa; Nasir Whaind, consulting actuary, Associate of the Society of Actuaries;

      From Sri Lanka: (i) Ministry of Finance and Planning: R.A. Jayatissa, senior economic policy advisor; Ayanthi De Silva, director, Social Protection Division; Andana Kithsiri Seneviratne, director, Department of National Budget; (ii) Central Bank of Sri Lanka: K.D. Ranasinghe, director, Economic Research Department; Kalyanee Gunatilake, additional superintendent; (iii) R.D.W. Pallegama, deputy director, Supervision of Non-Bank Companies, Financial Institutions Department; (iv) Hemachandra Ranathunga, additional secretary, Samurdhi, Social Welfare and ICT, Ministry of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development; (v) Azra Abdul Cader, Poverty Assessment and Knowledge Management Programme, Development and Rural Livelihood, Centre of Poverty Analysis; (vi) Sri Lanka Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank: Richard Vokes, country director; Hasitha Wickremasinghe, economist; (vii) K.A. Thilakaratne, director general, Employees’ Provident Fund; (viii) M.A. Pradeep Lal Gunawardana, deputy director of Pensions, IT and Registration, Department of Pensions; (ix) Nalaka Godahewa, managing director, Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation; (x) Lasinee Seresinhe, director general, Insurance Board of Sri Lanka; (xi) Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka: Ayodya Galappattige, research officer; Nisha Arunatilake, fellow; Saman Kelegama, executive director; Roshini Jayaweera, research assistant; and (xii) H.D. Karunaratne, faculty of Management and Finance, University of Colombo.

       Abstract

      Income insecurity in old age is likely to be one of the key causes of increased poverty in South Asia, and setting up systems to avert this crisis should be a central public policy goal of each country. Several countries in the region are therefore beginning to evaluate a range of policy options for pension reforms. Although there is already a significant body of knowledge in this area in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, lessons from global experiences with pension reforms cannot be directly applied in the South Asian context due to important differences in initial conditions. On the other hand, South Asian countries are remarkably similar to each other in terms of demography, economic strength, labor markets, history, culture, legal and political structures, and challenges of governance. Hence, lessons from both success and failure in pension policy design and implementation are highly portable from one country to another within South Asia.

      In this context, this paper proposes the establishment of a South Asia pension forum (SAPF). The SAPF is intended to foster and support intensive policy analysis, research, and consultation on pension reforms and social security within South Asia and undertake a number of key initiatives to build both regional and country-specific capacity