FSS: Consideration needed if fund to rely on gaming industry

The President of the Social Security Fund (FSS), Ip Peng Kun, said that society should consider if the Social Security Fund should be supported by the gaming industry, which fluctuates greatly. The president said that although gaming taxes were currently high and the government was allocating more to the Fund, it still needed a long-term plan to “store up grain against dearth”. He spoke whilst attending a radio show of local media TDM, Macau Forum. Mr. Ip said that the current incomes of FSS are from one percent of the fiscal budget’s recurring income, as well as a 75 percent allocation in a maximum three percent of the gross income of the gaming industry. He said the Fund would deepen the consideration with other departments on the feasibility of the mechanism suggested by the CE candidate to link up the allocation to FSS with fiscal dividends. Meanwhile, Mr. Ip also said that the preliminary actuarial report indicates that it is hard to calculate if the amount of the pension will be less when the elderly get it before they reach the age of 65 years than those getting pensions only at or after that age. He cited an example saying that the family of the elderly may think the government ‘lies’ when an elderly person wants to get the pension only at the age of 65, yet passes away at 64 years old. He maintained that it is difficult to gauge the situation as it varies according to different people. K.L.