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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-01-17
CONTENTS
[01] BoG chief on aging population
[01] BoG chief on aging population
Bank of Greece Governor Nikos Garganas warned on Thursday that the
consequences of an aging population in Greece will be more intense, one
reason being that the public debt ratio related to the GDP is at a very
high level, adding that a delay in the implementation of policies to
tackle the consequences of an aging population -such as reforms to
safeguard the viability of the social security system, the
restructuring of public finances and the boosting of employment-
transfers and worsens the problem that future generations will have to
face.
Speaking during a public discussion with the Governors of the Central
Banks of Luxembourg Yves Mersch and Finland Erkki Liikanen on the theme
"The aging population of Europe: consequences and reforms," Garganas
stressed the need for reforms to handle the aging of the population in
Europe, as well as in Greece, and the economic repercussions that it
will entail.
Garganas said that demographic developments (a greater life expectancy
and a low birth rate) will lead to a considerable increase in the
elderly people's dependence rate (meaning the percentage of people over
65 in relation to the employed section of the population) in all
European Union countries.
He pointed out that this development will considerably increase
expenditures for pensions and health and will reduce the number of
people paying contributions.
According to Garganas, the degree to which these consequences will
affect the standard of living in individual countries will depend on
their initial fiscal performances, on efforts being made to strengthen
the growth rate, on an increase in the percentage of the employed
population and the rationalisation of pensioning systems.
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