The Polish government is expected to release details of its plan to transfer back to the state $47.6 billion worth of government bonds held by privately managed funds that invest retirement money on behalf of Poles.
Critics are calling it the most drastic nationalization of private assets since Soviet times. The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk counters that it is no more than a bookkeeping change in the way it will handle the public’s retirement money. It has also defended the move as simply an accounting change that will not harm retirees.
Despite the government’s assurances that pensioners will eventually get their money, critics say that withdrawing the bonds, without compensating the fund managers, is tantamount to a seizure of assets.
