Pension deficit in Belarus to be resolved by raising retirement age

According to the IMF, following reforms and raising the retirement age to 58 year for women and to 63 for men, the pension fund balance would be preserved until 2022, and since early 2023, the Fund’s budget would be reducing by 0.15% of GDP annually. Belarus will raise the retirement age due to the deficit of the Social Protection Fund. In the course of the next six years, Belarus will be raising the retirement by 0.5 years annually. Due to the mass lay-offs in the economy, budget transfers to cover the deficit of the Social Security Fund are likely to increase, and pensions are likely to keep pace with growth in both, wages and inflation. The economic crisis and non-willingness of enterprises to hire workers of retirement age, will prevent an increase in employment of retirees. As the Belarusian population continues to age, the economic authorities are likely to reformat the existing programme of raising the retirement age and may increase the retirement age to 65 years for men and women in the coming three-four years.