text: the entire 117 per cent "base", and the later 7.1 per cent increase had applied to that already augmented sum. If the Committee had further questions on the calculation of pensionable remuneration, it would do better to refer them to ICSC. 40. Mr. PIRSON (Belgium) said he understood from the Executive Secretary's silence on the matter that the figures he had cited on current pension levels in the United Nations and the comparator civil service were correct. He had not yet received an answer to his question on how the current system for adjusting the level of pensionable remuneration worked. When the current procedure was introduced four years previously, had anyone explained to delegations how it would work? Certainly the General Assembly had adopted the procedure, but it did not seem to have been given all the necessary information first. He noted also that he had not yet been supplied with information on how pensionable remuneration levels had changed since 1976. As for ways of achieving savings, he had a whole series of propos~s which he would be pleased to put forward in informal consultations. 41. Mr. LANDAU (Austria) asked what level pensionable remuneration would have reached if adjustment had continued to be made exclusively on the basis of ~PA, and how that figure compared with the change in the United States consumer price index. 42. Mr. KELLER (United States of America) commented that the comparison made in paragraph 8 of Conference Room Paper No. 4 was not valid. United Nations pensions were paid from an accumulated fund of invested capital, while pensions under the Federal pension system of the United States took the form of a direct appropriation that was then distributed to pensioners. He wondered if a more apposite comparison 
analysis: This text appears to be discussing pension plans and remuneration levels within the United Nations and a comparator civil service. The language used is technical and focused on financial and economic concepts, such as pensionable remuneration, adjustment procedures, and consumer price indexes. The discussion also touches on the idea of achieving savings, which suggests a focus on fiscal management. Given the specific context of the United Nations and the technical language used, it seems likely that the text is related to employment and pension policies.