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| - Chile President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday promulgated a law allowing the partial early withdrawal of private pension funds, hours after the Constitutional Court rejected a challenge to the bill by his government. Last week, Congress approved a bill that would allow people to withdraw up to 10 percent from their private pension funds to mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic. It was immediately challenged by Pinera's government. "As a government we respect and accept the Constitutional Court's decision, despite not sharing it," said Pinera. "That is why today we are promulgating the reform to allow the withdrawal of 10 percent of provisional savings." It is the third time in nine months that Chile has approved such a measure. The court, which did not divulge the reasons for its decision, voted by seven to three to reject the challenge. "President Sebastian Pinera has shot himself in the foot, he's made a historic mistake," said opposition legislator Raul Soto after the court's decision. In December the same court ruled against a similar initiative following another challenge by the government, which subsequently submitted its own proposal that was accepted. The latest decision comes with almost 90 percent of the country under lockdown for close to a month as coronavirus cases soared, despite Chile making great strides with its vaccination campaign. Chile has been one of the best prepared in Latin America to face the pandemic, with low debt levels and high savings. In March 2020, the country held close to $23 billion in sovereign bonds. The government says it has reserved nearly 10 percent of GDP ($20 billion) for pandemic assistance, although some experts claim only a fifth of that has gone directly to those most in need. pa/pb/mr/bc/st
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