After the announcement by President Sebastián Piñera, about a series of measures to financially help the middle class amid the pandemic, the Minister of Finance, Ignacio Briones, defended the alternative, pointing out that it is superior to the option of withdrawing 10% of the AFPs.
Regarding the benefits promoted by the Government, the holder of the portfolio pointed out that it is “a very powerful package of soft loans that are at zero real interest rate, that have a payment period of four years with a grace period and that also they are contingent on income. “
In this line, he assured that the measure exceeds the idea of withdrawing 10% of the AFPs, an option that had generated debate in recent days. “Our estimates are that we can reach up to approximately 600 thousand people. Our data and our numbers show that this alternative is far superior to the eventual withdrawal of 10% of the AFPs that, as the Ministry and as the Government, we have said seems to us a bad idea. for what supposes to affect the future pensions “.
“Naturally, a zero real rate credit is, by all accounts, more convenient than a withdrawal of funds as has been raised in the public discussion. It seems to us that here, in terms of soft loans, a credit directly from the State, contingent on the Income, with payment facilities, is a much superior alternative to what has been raised in the debate and seriously compromises future pensions, “Briones added.
Insisting on the important differences between the two proposals, the Secretary of State stated that “there is a very high percentage of the population that has low balances in their AFP and, therefore, this measure tends to favor those sectors with higher incomes much more who have higher balances in their individual accounts. But most importantly: I think that today we are presenting a bad idea that we believe is far superior. “
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