Chile Shifts to Damage Control With New Pension Proposal

Chile’s government moved to head off a controversial pension bill that threatens to stoke inflation already running at the fastest pace in almost 14 years, presenting its own withdrawal proposals that would limit the impact on consumer spending.

Finance Minister Mario Marcel said the government would submit a bill that will allow a withdrawal from pension savings for specific purposes, such as paying utility bills, alimonies, past-due mortgages and for a first home. The limited drawdown would prompt pension funds to sell assets for around $3 billion, about one fifth of those liquidated in previous withdrawals, Marcel said before the lower house.