The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has been taken off the General Accounting Office's high-risk program list after three years due to a combination of congressional and agency initiatives.
The new rules included in the Retirement Protection Act passed late last year should help reduce the PBGC's exposure to losses, the GAO said. The law aims to strengthen private pension funding, and increases the premiums paid by underfunded pension plans. Currently, the agency carries an aggregate $2.6 billion debt.
The PBGC was first put on the high-risk list in 1992. The list names areas of financial vulnerability in the federal government.
"Our goal has been to put the PBGC's financial house in order, and GAO's action confirms our success," said Anthony Calhoun, the PBGC's deputy executive director and chief financial officer.
Even though PBGC has been taken off the list, the GAO will continue to monitor the agency.
Last year, the GAO said the PBGC had taken significant steps to strengthen internal controls and to fix weaknesses in specific financial and management information systems.
