Unless the world economy picks up it will not be enough to inform people on how to manage money and save for their retirement, a leading economist has warned.
Lino Delia, chairman of APS Bank, made the comment at the launch this morning of the Retirement and Financial Capability Group, a government initiative with the backing of different stakeholders.
The group, an offshoot of the pensions reform drive, will be tasked to raise awareness on money management and savings by targeting different age groups.
Prof. Delia's intervention during the business breakfast injected a dose of economic realism into the debate.
"By all means the initiative to educate and raise awareness should be supported but all this depends on global economic conditions," he said.
Using US President Donald Trump's decision to immediately withdraw from the trans-pacific free trade deal as an example of world events that are conditioning international trade, Prof. Delia said much depended on European and Maltese growth.
"While Donald Trump is an executive president and decisions are immediate, initiatives in Europe are taken at a much slower pace," he said.
While advocating long-term planning for pensions he cautioned that if economic growth that created jobs faltered, there could be problems ahead.
"We have to be aware of these challenges," he said.
Social Policy Minister Micheal Farrugia said government initiatives to bolster growth and encourage people to work had changed the socio-economic parameters, which necessitated adopting a different strategy on pensions.
He was referring to government's decision to ignore recommendations to increase the retirement age.
Since 2013 more women have joined the labour market and an increase in foreigners working here has helped increase the workforce thus contributing more in terms of taxes to sustain pensions.
The strategy released today aims to foster knowledge and planning in financial matters. It also aims to create an independent information point on private retirement plans and the risks and benefits associated with them.
It acknowledges that people have to be targeted in different ways depending on their age and socio-economic condition.
The strategy recognizes that women are a vulnerable group, especially those nearing retirement and facing a divorce or separation.