Carlos Slim criticizes the pension system in Mexico and calls for combating poverty

The tycoon pointed out that in order to achieve peace within and between countries of the world, it is necessary not only to reduce poverty, but to eliminate it. And to do so, certain expenses must be reduced, such as those on weapons and even on pensioners’ income.

“We should no longer talk about equality or inequality, there must be a minimum upward trend in well-being for the entire population. It’s incredible (…) in Mexico we are giving a lot of income to retirees and we have 6 million people living in extreme poverty, which is totally irrational,” the businessman argued during the World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates on Thursday.

In his view, the current spending by the government to increase the income of retirees is misdirected and should be channeled only to those with a minimum income.

“The payment to senior citizens is 4,000 to 6,000 pesos, but it should be given when they have a minimum income. These resources should go to the extreme poor,” he said.

On the other hand, he stressed that insecurity limits the freedom of individuals and is a factor that does not ensure peace. Finally, he invited countries to work on consolidating united families and harmony, in order to have united and creative societies.

In 2020, according to Coneval data, 43.9% of the population in Mexico lived in poverty. However, people over 65 years of age faced this situation to a lesser extent, with 37.9% in poverty, compared to 44.5% of the rest of the population below that age range.

As for extreme poverty, the outlook was also more favourable for those over 65, with only 6.7% of them in this condition, while, in general, 8.5% of the population lived in this condition.

Furthermore, by 2030, pension spending in Mexico is expected to represent 7.8% of GDP, according to recent estimates by the Center for Economic and Budgetary Research. This is more than double the proportion currently allocated to education, for example, by the government.