House backs Argentine pension bid

By Daniel Schweimler
BBC News, Buenos Aires

The Argentine president says the move will safeguard people's savings

Argentina's lower house of parliament has approved a government plan to nationalise private pension schemes worth $30bn (£19bn).

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the move would protect the funds in the face of the global economic crisis.

But the plan faced tough opposition from those who called it a cynical ploy to loot pensioners' money.

It passed the lower house after 14 hours of intense debate.

Protests held

This was a major victory for both the president and the Argentine government, which in the end won the vote more convincingly than many had expected - by 160 to 75.

The move to nationalise private pension funds had faced stiff opposition from a public which simply does not trust the government's intentions and from some members of the president's own party.

A rebellion was feared, like the one which earlier this year saw the government defeated in a major vote over increasing agricultural export taxes.

A second defeat would have been a heavy blow to the president, who says the Argentine economy is strong and she simply wants to protect pension funds in the face of the global economic crisis.

"Other countries," she said, "protect their banks. We protect our pensioners and workers."

Earlier in the day there were large protests outside the congress building, both for and against the plan.

Later this month it goes before the upper house, the Senate, where the government has a majority.

Meanwhile, millions of Argentines with a stake in the pension funds will be watching developments closely.