The World Bank suggests raising the retirement age, making men’s and women’s retirement age equal or indexing pension age to the country’s life expectancy
Tirana Times
TIRANA, Sept. 13 – A World Bank team of experts will arrive next October in Albania to help the Albanian government deal with proposed changes to the current pension system following widening deficit. This was confirmed this week by Jane Armitage, the World Bank Country Director and Regional Coordinator for South East Europe, who visited Albania to assess progress of the World Bank program in the country as well as to participate in “Towards a better governance in Albania” conference.
The World Bank senior official said that in order to have a stable financial scheme several options can be examined including raising the retirement age, making men’s and women’s retirement age equal or indexing pension age to the country’s life expectancy.
Local media sources say the government is also examining the possibility of a retirement scheme based on professions. Finance Ministry data show the government plans to spend 85.3 billion on social security contributions this year, while the collection rate is expected at 51.2 billion, accounting for a deficit of 34 billion lek or 340 million dollars.
Last week, Prime Minister Sali Berisha announced the government was considering increasing the retirement age in an attempt to lower the deficit in the pension scheme. Speaking at a meeting with his Democratic Party MPs, Berisha said the retirement age, currently at 60 years old for women and 65 years old for men, should increase as Albania’s life expectancy also rises.According to him, the government contributes 1 percent of the GDP or 33 percent of the budget deficit to cover the deficit in the social insurance scheme.
The last time the government increased the pension age was in 2002 when it initiated a gradual increase of five years in retirement ages for both men and women.
