Romanians have EUR 560 in their private pension funds, on average

The average value of a private pension account in Romania was of EUR 562 (RON 2,500) at the end of March this year, according to data from the Romanian Financial Surveillance Authority ASF. This was valid for the mandatory private pension funds – Pillar II. However, the value of a private pension account for Romanians who contribute monthly to the system was higher – some EUR 750 (or RON 3,350). The difference is due to the inactive participants in the system – some 180,000 Romanians have not contributed any monthly installment to the system. Moreover, out of the 6.1 million participants to the system, only around half had repetitive monthly contributions since 2008, when the system started. Some Romanians managed to accumulate much more in their private pensions accounts – 159,000 of them had more than EUR 2,240 in these accounts, while almost half a million Romanians enjoyed a private pensions account between EUR 1,100 and EUR 2,200. As of January 2014, the state sends over to the mandatory private pension funds 4.5 percent of the monthly social contributions, up 0.5 percentage points on 2013. The assets of mandatory private pension funds were up 45 percent, to some EUR 3.5 billion, in Romania last year. These covered 2.36 percent of the country’s GDP. Full info from ASF, here (in Romanian). Mandatory private pension funds post EUR 0.25 bln in profit in 2013 editor@romania-insider.com