Chile Strengthens Its Social Security System with IDB Support

WASHINGTON — The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a loan of up to $15 million to support Chile in the implementation of its pension reform. 

This operation, approved by the IDB's Executive Board, aims to improve pensions and their ability to ensure an adequate standard of living and facilitate access to pension information through the institutional strengthening of the organizations responsible for the Chilean Pension System (SPC). 

The program includes the development of new technological and operational capacities at the Social Security Institute and the Superintendency of Pensions, including the creation of a technological platform for the collection and payment of benefits, the automation of supervision processes, and the implementation of a new Pension Information System, which will be accessible to all citizens, including people with visual disabilities and neurodiversity. 

The operation will also finance a communication and pension education strategy, as well as the strengthening of interoperability between system institutions. 

These measures are expected to directly benefit more than 11 million people affiliated with the Chilean pension system, including around 500,000 employers who will make contributions for approximately 5.9 million workers. The establishment of the social security pension will allow the payment of the benefit for years contributed to approximately 1,000,000 pensioners and the compensation for life expectancy to approximately 750,000 retired women. 

The IDB loan is results-based, has a disbursement period of four years, and a grace period of five and a half years.