12 August 2008
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) faced a total shortfall of
£80.1bn at the end of July from pension schemes in deficit,
up from £63.1bn just one month earlier and more than double
the deficit in July 2007, as falling stock markets and lower
interest rates took their toll.
The PPF, the government-sponsored but employer-funded safety net
for defined benefit schemes, guarantees a portion of retirement
obligations of insolvent employers who leave behind an under-funded
scheme.
With the current economic downturn, the number of companies
whose liabilities the PPF will have to assume is expected to
rise.
