TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A hike of the National Pension Insurance premium rate to 10% scheduled for Jan. 1 is likely to affect 2.71 million people, reports said Friday (Dec. 9).

Since 2015, the insured amount remained unchanged at NT$18,282 ($596). However, because of fears the fund will not have enough money to pay for pensions during the next 20 years, the amount will rise to NT$19,761 beginning next month.

In practice, most people will see their premium rise between NT$72 and NT$144 per month, the Liberty Times reported. As a result, the National Pension Fund will see its income increase by NT$2.4 billion per year.

A total of 2.86 million people were covered by the pension program, but as certain underprivileged groups have their payments taken up by the government, the number of people having to pay more from Jan. 1 totaled 2.71 million, per Radio Taiwan International (RTI).

During the most recent review in September, the fund had a balance of NT$465.6 billion, not enough to cover pension payments estimated at NT$959.3 billion for the next 20 years, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) said.