Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68

Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68

Olaf Scholz, German Finance Minister and Chancellor candidate of the Social Democratic party SPD for the upcoming September general elections speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, Germany June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday a proposal by economic advisers to raise the retirement age further to 68 was wrong and that citizens could rely on his Social Democrats (SPD) to block any such move after September’s federal election.

Under existing rules put in place by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first coalition government in 2006, the age at which Germans can draw a full state pension without deductions is due to rise gradually from 65 to 67 years by 2031.

But faced with a rapidly ageing society and a shrinking work force following decades of low birth rates and uneven immigration, a panel of advisers for the economy ministry has suggested increasing the age threshold further to 68 by 2042.

Scholz, who is his party’s candidate to become Germany’s next chancellor, told an SPD economic conference he would fight the proposal, saying Germans could rely on him to protect fair and stable pensions.

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