James Okafor
Paraguay's new president, Pedro Alliana, says he will get back the pension money caught up in the Ueno Bank intervention. The crisis forced Santiago Peña from office and has left as many as 7,000 people without work in Paraguay and abroad.
Paraguay's president, Pedro Alliana, said on Tuesday that recovering pension funds deposited in Ueno Bank would be a priority for his administration. The intervention at the financial institution has put roughly 800 million dollars (around 716 million euros) held by public bodies at risk, including money from five retirement funds. It also set off a political crisis that ended with Santiago Peña's removal from office.
The Social Security Institute (IPS) is among the institutions affected. It manages pensions and part of the country's health services. Workers and retirees have grown increasingly anxious about whether the money will come back.
Alliana, who took office last Friday, has promised to safeguard citizens' savings and to move quickly on compensation once the bank collapsed.
Nearly 95% of savers have been paid
According to the president, about 1.74 million depositors have been paid a total of 330 million dollars through the Deposit Guarantee Fund. The government expects to finish the remaining reimbursements required under the emergency law Congress passed on Wednesday 11 November.
Those payments do not mean every customer will get all their savings back. The guarantee scheme covers up to about 38,600 dollars (roughly 34,575 euros) per depositor, and the first advances are capped at around 20,000 dollars.
For many account holders, the money arriving is the first relief after days of not knowing what would happen. "At last they transferred the money I was missing," Rosario, a 45-year-old customer who asked that her surname not be used, told AFP.
A banking crisis that brought down the president
The intervention at Ueno Bank set off large protests. Demonstrators demanded their deposits back and called for the exit of then president Santiago Peña, who had ties to the institution.
Political and social pressure built until the Senate removed him in an impeachment trial. His vice president, Pedro Alliana, took over the government and sped up compensation payments through the guarantee fund.
The crisis has also taken a toll on jobs. Labour minister Mónica Recalde says as many as 7,000 people have lost work at companies linked to the bank in Paraguay, Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina and Panama.
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Source: euronews.com
