Chamber of deputies to debate government-proposed pension reforms

The Chamber of Deputies is due to open an extraordinary session on the pension reforms proposed by the government on Tuesday afternoon. The debate on the highly controversial bill is expected to last for two days and drag long into the night hours. The opposition parties have already announced lengthy speeches by their representatives.

The draft proposal envisages gradually raising the retirement age, now set at 65, a different basis for calculating old-age pensions, a lower indexation of pensions and a minimum pension amounting to 20 percent of the average wage. Most of the changes would affect people born after 1966. The opposition parties and trade unions are vehemently against the proposal.