Taiwan's legislature passed an amendment to halt scheduled pension cuts for retired public servants on December 12.
A pension reform implemented in July 2018 had originally planned to reduce retirees' monthly pension by 1.5 percent annually, or fifteen percent over a decade. While the reform dissatisfied many retirees and sparked ongoing debate, the government claimed it was necessary to avoid insolvency.
A mixed caucus of the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party advocating for a halt to further pension cuts pushed through the recent amendment, which allowsretirees to use pension rates from 2023 and cancels planned annual pension rate decreases in 2024 and future years.
Taiwan's Ministry of Civil Service claimed that if the bill passed, the country's public retirement fund would need an influx of NT$697 billion, or NT$29,900 per citizen, to maintain solvency.
Instead, adjustments to the pension amount will occur either every four years or when Taiwan's consumer price index changes by more than five percent.
Lee Lai-shi, a prominent opponent of the reforms and former chairman of the National Civil Servant Association, expressed gratitude to the KMT for the amendment. （Related： Taiwanese Premier Declines to Sign Budgetary Amendment, Legislature Considers Vote of No-Confidence ｜ Latest ）
"We will all remember!" he exclaimed.
