On the morning of February 1, the Information Office held a press conference to introduce the fiscal revenue and expenditure for the whole year of 2023 and answer questions.
A reporter asked that with the deepening of China's aging population, people are worried about the timely and full payment of pensions and whether the pension system can be sustained. What is the Ministry of Finance's response to this?
Hou Junming, director of the Department of Asset Management of the Ministry of Finance, said that this is an issue that everyone is very concerned about. China's aging population is accelerating, and providing for the elderly is an important livelihood project. The issuance of pensions is related to thousands of households and the well-being of the people. In order to ensure that pensions are paid on time and in full, financial departments at all levels have actively played a functional role in recent years, focusing on three aspects:
First, we will continue to increase financial subsidies. In 2023, the government will arrange about 1 trillion yuan of basic pension insurance subsidy funds, focusing on the central and western regions and old industrial bases with income and expenditure difficulties; Local finances at all levels have also actively implemented relevant expenditure responsibilities to ensure that basic pensions are paid in full and in a timely manner.
The second is to implement the national overall planning of pension insurance. According to the first deployment, this system will be implemented from 2022 onwards, and the balance of ** will be reasonably adjusted nationwide. In 2023, the scale of the national overall adjustment fund will reach 271.6 billion yuan, effectively solving the problem of uneven distribution of pension burden and balance between regions.
The third is to strengthen the management of pension insurance. Cooperate with relevant departments to standardize the revenue and expenditure behavior of local governments, promote more fair and reasonable financing and treatment policies, and promote a fairer and more sustainable pension insurance system.
Through the implementation of the above measures, the income and expenditure situation has been effectively improved in recent years. By the end of 2023, the cumulative balance of the basic pension insurance for employees of enterprises across the country has approached 6 trillion yuan, and the pension can be guaranteed to be paid on time and in full.
At the same time, in accordance with the national decision-making and deployment, we also arrange special funds to support the implementation of basic pension services at home and in the community, centralized care for the elderly in financial difficulties and other pension service projects, and introduce a series of preferential tax policies to support the development of the pension service industry, and vigorously support the development of the silver economy, so that the elderly have "pension money", and can also enjoy affordable and well-used pension services.
In 2024, we will focus on two aspects. On the one hand, we will further increase the intensity of financial subsidies, thoroughly implement the national overall planning system for pension insurance, improve relevant systems and mechanisms, and manage and guard the people's "pension money". On the other hand, we will further increase support for elderly care services, improve the network of institutions, communities and home care services, promote the coordinated development of the elderly care industry and the elderly care industry, and promote the quality and efficiency of elderly care services.
*: China News Network.
Editor in charge: Yang Yang.
Supervisor: Mu Haoqiang.