English

Retirement age should be raised for everyone, Lukashenka says

The retirement age should be raised for everyone, Alyaksandr Lukashenka said during a government conference on the development of Belarus’ pension system.

By president.gov.by

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that the differences in life expectancies in men and women, demographic trends in cities and rural areas and some other factors should be taken into account while deciding on the matter, according to the government’s news agency BelTA.

Mr. Lukashenka noted that Belarus’ average life expectancy had increased compared with the 1990s. «That is why 55 or 60 years is a normal age,» he said.

«And if you tell a woman that she is old or a pensioner at 55, and she will take offense! But when we suggest that she should go on working if she is not old and not a pensioner, there is a different reaction. The same can be said of men too. They don’t take offense openly, but they do so in their heart. At 60 a man is a horse that can still be used to plow and pull three plows, not one.»

Mr. Lukashenka stressed that officers of «our celebrated law-enforcement agencies» should not be allowed to retire at 45. «What kind of retiree can you be at 45?» he said. «I think it will be fair if the retirement age is raised for all.»

Mr. Lukashenka said that authorities suggest drastic reforms to improve the pension system, starting with raising the retirement age. He claimed that about half of the citizens approve of the proposed pension reform.

Mr. Lukashenka said that he was trying to decide between the government’s «economics-based» proposals and public opinion and would make a decision based on his conviction that social and economic processes should be «controlled by us» instead of «controlling us.»

Mr. Lukashenka made it clear that reform plans would be on hold as long as the economic situation in Belarus remained «tolerable.» At the same time, he indicated readiness to raise the retirement age if pressed by circumstances.

The age is 60 years for men and 55 years for women in Belarus at present.