Reuters.com (22.12.2020)

Kenya’s parliament on Tuesday voted to end tax cuts put in place in April to cushion the economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move lawmakers said would help to plug revenue shortfalls but investors said would hamper a recovery. The tax cuts were introduced weeks after Kenya reported its first case of the coronavirus and aimed to shield East Africa’s richest economy.

apnews.com (01.03.2021) With the floodgates set to open on another round of unemployment aid, states are being hammered with a new wave of fraud as they scramble to update security systems and block scammers who already have siphoned billions of dollars from pandemic-related jobless programs.

aseanbriefing.com (18.02.2021) The House of Representatives in the Philippines have passed House Bill No. 8461 (HB 8461) which seeks to authorize the President to suspend the premium contribution hike to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), in addition to House Bill No. 8512 (HB 8512), which provides the President the power to defer the scheduled hike in contributions to the Social Security System (SSS). Both PhilHealth and the SSS were mandated by existing laws to increase their premium rates in 2021.

ilo.org (23.02.2021)

Up to 17,000 garment workers in Lao PDR affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are to each receive two months’ emergency income support worth 900,000 LAK (approximately US$100). Eligible beneficiaries, of whom 85 per cent are women, will receive the cash transfers by the end of March.

C’est une profession émergente, devenue essentielle à l’heure du confinement : les médiateurs numériques aident à comprendre les outils et les usages digitaux à tous ceux qui ne les maîtrisent pas. Personnes âgées, précaires, mais aussi jeunes, près de 20 % de la population est concernée.

3 axes principaux sont identifiés :

Minesterioa de Economía y Finanzas (03.02.2021) As of February 1, 2021, the payment of the Bond Against Hunger reached more than 3.8 million Bolivians, covering 93% of the total universe of beneficiaries, with an outlay of Bs3,877 million, reported the Vice Minister of Pensions and Financial Services, Ivette Espinoza.

Social Security Agency (25.02.2021) On December 11, Québec's government approved a law introducing the Target Benefit Pension Plan (TBPP), an occupational pension plan that combines certain features of existing defined contribution (DC) and defined benefit (DB) plans. Like a DC plan, a TBPP is funded with employee and employer contributions paid at fixed rates and does not provide guaranteed benefits. However, by pooling its members' assets and setting a target benefit level, a TBPP can provide workers with a predictable periodic pension at retirement like a DB plan.

Social Security Administration (25.02.2021) Singapore Introduces Government Match for Provident Fund Catch-up Contributions In January, Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board introduced the Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, a program that provides a dollar-for-dollar government match of up to S$600 (US$450.56) per year in catch-up contributions for qualifying CPF members from 2021 to 2025.