Bahrain Mirror: Sources said that the government assigned Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission to work on drafting a law that raises retirement age of employees in the public and private sectors, Al-Ayam local reported.

Sources indicated that the government is waiting for the Legislation and Legal Opinion Commission to finish drafting the bill in order to refer it to the House of Representatives to study it.

The source told the newspaper that the law comes in the light of governmental orientation to decrease pressure on pension funds run by general retirement authority after number of retired participants increased with scarcity in revenues and investments in fund assets, whether on financial and real estate aspects.

For his part, member of parliamentary investigation commission on pension funds Jamal Bou Hassan stressed that they received information regarding governmental orientation to raise retirement ages for employees in the public and private sectors. He further stated that the parliamentary investigation commission concluded that the pension funds assets are mismanaged. Bou Hassan pointed out that raising the retirement age under the pretext of actuarial deficit is unjustified.

He said that MPs in the commission studied the issue of raising the retirement age and refused it and so was the case with the other MPs.

Bou Hasan indicated that, according to the commission, the problem lies in mismanaging the fund assets.

Economic researcher Akbar Jaafari supported raising the retirement age, arguing that it must be done. He noted that the current retirement system is suitable for the past 40 years and has to be currently updated through raising the retirement age.

He pointed out that the health status of citizens has changed a lot and the Bahraini citizen has reached relatively advanced age.

Jaafari suggested that there should be a delayed retirement system like the early retirement one, as many people who reached retirement age according to the current system are still in their peak of giving.

Arabic Version