But even on a cash basis, pension finances are deteriorating.
Speaking at Local 80, he put the pension financing shortage at $190 million.
The state also pays an income-related supplementary pension financed through a payroll plan.
Any hesitation, particularly on pension financing, would not go down well with the markets.
Mr. Fisher suggested a number of other changes in the pension financing rules.
Pension finances may look even worse in six months, when Britain's actuaries produce a study on longevity.
New Zealand pays a flat rate pension; financed from general taxation, to all who meet residence requirements at age 60.
The painful lesson for employees comes as companies press Congress to relax provisions of the pension financing law permanently.
A virtue of pension reform is that it replaces the opaque world of pay-as-you-go pension financing with one in which commitments are clear and explicit.
The government admits that there is a big hole in public-sector pension finances; in 2002 it put the total deficit at £380 billion.
