National Renewal (RN) Deputy Diego Schalper described the idea of a new withdrawal from pension fund administrators as "promises that cannot be kept". Instead, he proposed being "much more aggressive with a direct hiring subsidy" to address unemployment.
Schalper spoke in an interview with Telenoche, T13 reported. His remarks respond to the proposal being considered by the People's Party (PDG), the party founded by Franco Parisi, which has 14 deputies.
The initiative does not yet exist as a bill. Deputy Pamela Jiles posted on X that it is a "proposal under preliminary evaluation, not yet submitted as a bill." The idea comes amid unemployment of 9.6%, according to the latest report from the National Statistics Institute (INE).
According to Publimetro, the PDG is weighing two options. The first is a loan from workers' own pension funds, which they would repay in installments deducted from their salaries. The second is an emergency withdrawal without repayment, limited to critical cases.
Those cases include catastrophic illnesses, the risk of foreclosure, overdue debts and people who have been out of work for more than six months and have already exhausted their unemployment insurance. Unlike the general withdrawals during the pandemic, this version would require applicants to meet eligibility criteria to access the money.
For pension fund members, the distinction matters. A loan from their own funds would mean returning the money to their pension account. A withdrawal without repayment, by contrast, would permanently reduce their pension savings, as happened with the three previous withdrawals.
Opposition also came from the Republican Party. Senator Cristián Vial, an independent in the Republican caucus, recalled that 1 in every 4 people was left with no balance in their account after the first three withdrawals. He also attributed an inflationary effect that hit the mortgage market to the injection of more than 50 billion dollars.
Deputy Leandro Kunstmann, from Los Ríos, called it "enormous irresponsibility." Felipe Ross, deputy for district 13, posted a critical summary of the withdrawals on X, which he titled "anti-people populism." Republican Deputy Agustín Romero, in turn, said the measure would be "terrible" for the economy, although he acknowledged the need to support those who have been unemployed for a long time.
José Antonio Kast's government does not support the idea either. According to Meganoticias, the executive branch called it "populist" and "harmful." Labor Minister Tomás Rau said they are open to dialogue, but that "history has taught us" that the withdrawals were not good policy.
The dispute also has an electoral backdrop. According to The Clinic, Republicans are seeking to curb the PDG, which presents itself as representing lower-income groups and the middle class. The two parties have already clashed when the PDG did not support extending the detention period for irregular migrants.
This is not the only initiative of its kind in Congress. In March, Jiles submitted bills for a new 10% withdrawal and another for migrants returning to their countries. Neither has advanced, and the PDG has yet to formally submit its new proposal.
