Lajos Bokros, prime minister-candidate of the conservative opposition MDF party, on Friday called Hungary’s current pension system unsustainable, and pressed for more competition and closer proximity to labour market needs in higher education.
“The pension system is untenable in its current form. In Hungary the very few people who contribute to pension funds pay very high amounts,” he told a public forum in Budapest.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai said “there is no need for immediate changes to Hungary’s pension system,” Deputy Welfare Minister Lajos Korozs added that the current system was sustainable and flexible and would be financable until 2050.
Bokros, a former finance minister of the mid-1990s credited with pulling Hungary’s economy from the brink, recommended pension reform along the Swedish model which he said would automatically provide a long-term balance in the pay-as-you-earn state pension system.
“The (Swedish) model conveys solidarity between generations,” he said.
The pension system is a hot political topic in Hungary. The country’s demographic situation points to a growing number of pensioners and a falling number of employees.
On a different subject, Bokros criticised Hungary’s universities and colleges, saying they are living in a “dreamworld” and proudly reject the idea that they should be evaluated on the basis of graduates’ success on the job market.