high, and had therefore suggested that the matter should be postponed until the following year to allow more thought to be given to various economy measures. The Fifth Committee had been told by some delegations that pensions had tripled in dollar terms since July 1971. He referred by way of example to Geneva, which was one of the major duty stations of the system. In 1971, the United States dollar had been equal to 4.32 Swiss francs. Its present exchange value was 2.13 Swiss francs. Thus, the number of dollars needed to buy a given quantity of Swiss francs had roughly doubled. In addition, even in SWitzerland there had been some inflation since 1971. Furthermore, no one had asked whether national civil services had received real improvements in their salaries since 1971, as opposed to cost-of-living increases. Thus, it was misleading to state that pensions had tripled without placing the increase in the context of currency fluctuations and inflation. 24. With regard to the contention that United Nations pensions were too high, he drew attention to COnference Room Paper No. 4. Over one third of all pension I ... A/C. 5/38/SR .4 5 English Page 7 (Mr. Mango) benefits payable as of October 1983 to retired staff who had served in the Professional category or above were within the $10,000-$20,000 range, and, in current economic circumstances, such pensions were hardly princely. Only 90 pensions, out of a total of 4,796 for the Professional category and above, were in excess of $50,000. Although in theory a staff member could have a high pension, in practice the number of large pensions was very small. The reason for that situation was that, whereas in national civil services, the normal career span was 30 years or more, the typical career in the United Nations system was 20 years, 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the issue of pension costs within the United Nations system, specifically the concern that pensions have tripled in dollar terms since 1971. The speaker references economic fluctuations, inflation, and career span to argue that the increase is not as significant as it seems. The topic is more related to the administrative and financial aspects of the organization rather than a specific sector or activity.

**Category**
Employment, International trade