The President of the Venezuelan National Assembly’s Commission on Finance and Economic Development, Ricardo Sanguino, said Thursday that the Special Law on Indebtedness is indispensable and will benefit 2.23 million senior citizens.

“This is about social investment, that’s why we are hoping to approve in a second discussion the 2012 Law on Indebtedness, which entails 30 billion Bolívares [U.S. $6.9 billion],” the lawmaker said during his speech in an ordinary session of the Venezuelan parliament.

The majority of the funds approved through this legal instrument – about $5.8 billion – would go to honoring pensions through the end of the year and providing the year-end benefits that are guaranteed to workers. The remaining amount would enter the National Fund for Social Benefits for Public Sector Workers to help resolve its debt.

“Our need to obtain these resources in order to honor pensions is well documented. Who can be opposed to the Parliament approving a law that would benefit 2.23 million citizens regardless of politics?” the lawmaker asked.

Congressman Sanguino said that in its debates, the Commission on Finance decided to favor senior citizens from ages 70 to 75, many of whom were recently incorporated into the social security system.

He recalled that when President Hugo Chávez first entered office, there were only 300,000 pensioners incorporated into the Venezuelan Institute of Social Security (IVSS).

“The last government of the Fourth Republic had already drafted the decree eliminating the IVSS, because social security was going to be privatized as part of the neoliberal policies they were applying,” he said.

The Law on Indebtedness is aimed at defining the maximum limit of the debt that the country can sustain and related mechanisms.