Gov't not pledging to increase retirement age to 70

The Romanian government has not discussed and cannot take responsibility for extending the retirement age to 70, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said on Wednesday, Agerpres reports.

"Because I've had some signs of a Government commitment to extending the retirement age to 70, I would like to announce that that is not true at all, I did not even have a discussion at this level; as far as I know, there is a possibility that, if one wishes, he or she will remain gainfully employed until the age of 70. The government has not discussed and cannot take responsibility for such an approach," Ciuca said at the beginning of a government meeting.

Labour Minister Marius Budai brought some clarifications on this subject at Ciuca's request.

"Neither in the coalition, nor in the government did we have that discussion. The possibility of a person optionally staying gainfully employed already exists in law; there is also a bonus if someone remains gainfully employed without drawing a pension. We can discuss whether or not to increase that bonus; let's see in the pension reform (...) that we have to work on, other provisions, but at this moment and due to the fact that life expectancy in Romania is low, well below the European Union average, we are not endorsing such project," Budai said.

Ciuca underscored that he brought up the government's not taking responsibility on such a project.