By Andrei Krivosheyev: In fact, three pension regimes are already operating in Belarus – an early preferential, a classic pay-as-you-go and a cumulative pension mode. Belarusians reform the first two themselves while continuing to work in retirement. An exception is professions undermining health.
In total, the Government has submitted three calculated and economically verified scenarios to be considered by the President and the public. The main difference between them lies in the speed of reforming, gender equality and the outcome for the economy. The first one is quick and the most cost-effective - the retirement age is increased by five years. The second option takes into account the health, life expectancy and work load of men and women, adding three more years for men and five for women. The third option is a moderate one and does not take into view the pensioner’s gender, providing for a symmetrical increase by three years – to 58 for women and 63 for men.
The reform, planned to start from 1 January 2017, will stretch for a period of up to 10 years.
