On 12 October 2022, Dr Lu Liu and Dr Lifei Xue, Assistant Professors of Faculty of Finance, City University of Macau, conducted the third Finance Salon, delivering a series of researches related to the Social Security Fund of Macao. Associate Professor Shiyan Lou presided over the academic salon.

Dr Lu Liu first introduced the background of Macao's social security system, and pointed out that after 30 years of development of Macao's social security system, through system improvement and adjustment, a two-tier social security system has been established, and the financial allocation of social security funds has been stipulated in the form of law. However, in recent years, the Macau Social Security Fund has relied heavily on government financial support and gaming grants, and the source of income based on contributions is much lower than total expenditure. Based on this background, Dr Liu and her team conducted an actuarial analysis on the sustainability and theoretical contribution of the Macao Social Security Fund under the assumptions of different macroeconomic indicators and different sources of income of the social security fund. Their research shows that even under the double optimistic assumptions of macroeconomic indicators and sources of social security income, the theoretical contribution amount of beneficiaries are still far higher than the current actual contribution amount, and the sustainable development of Macao's pension will face severe challenges. Dr Liu’s research has provided targeted policy recommendations for the adjustment of Macao's pension payment system and sustainable development in the future.

Dr Lifei Xue’s research focuses on the measurement and comparison of Macao's social security fund index. Specifically, Dr Xue constructed the pension indexes of Macao SAR in 2020 and 2021 according to the Global Pension Index Report of Mercer CFA Institute, and compared them with the systems of other countries and regions in the index report in 2021 in terms of adequacy, sustainability and soundness, trying to find the direction for future reform. By comparison, Dr Xue found that Macao's pension system currently has good adequacy and regulatory level, but his research also pointed out that the sustainability of pension assets will be challenged with the deepening of aging in the future. Further onwards, the comparison with the pension system in other countries and regions reveals the necessity of turning the nonmandatory central reserve fund system into mandatory. At last, Dr Xue’s research suggests that the working population who cannot participate in the work temporarily due to family care and other reasons should be provided with additional support through pension plans.

At the salon, Associate Dean Eva Khong, Associate Professor Yinggui Wang and Dr Zucheng Zhao discussed the papers of Dr Liu and Dr Xue, and provided specific suggestions and modification directions on the details of the content of the papers, the reliability of the indicators and the deepening of the policy background.

The sharing of Dr Lu Liu and Dr Lifei Xue benefited the participating teachers and students. The audience was very active and had a full exchange and discussion with the two speakers on the issues related to the series of studies. The third financial academic salon has been successfully completed. The fourth financial academic salon will be held in late November (time and venue to be announced), and the speaker will be Assistant Professor Di Li.