The fees for administering the planned pension funds will be a key issue that decides the long-term benefit of the government’s pension reforms. The Finance Ministry has given the first indication of the options on how and how much the private funds can make on managing future pensioners’ money. The question is whether the administration of the money will be an attractive proposition for financial institutes and their clients.

The Czech government’s proposal to establish a pension fund has gone over with the public like a lead balloon. Only one in five thinks the idea is credible, an NMS Market Research poll shows. This mistrust in the government proposal may stem from a lack of information on the planned steps. Only one in three Czechs polled said that they understood what the pension reform entailed.

The parts of the long-planned pension reform have been revealed so far give rise to many questions and ambiguities that the government hasn’t been able to give satisfactory answers to. There are 10 points in particular that need closer examination. What is clear, though, is that the reforms aren’t courageous enough and don’t provide a diverse group of people with enough options or guidance, writes former deputy finance minister Tomáš Prouza.

Some important points need to be considered in the pension reform debate. While Minister of Finance Miroslav Kalousek has said it is a question for a long weekend, it might take longer to look at how the money will be guaranteed, where it will come from and who will administer it. The three parties in the governing coalition hope that a proposal will be ready by the end of February.