Pakistan considers raising retirement age ahead of IMF visit

Pakistan is considering raising its retirement age to reduce burgeoning pension payments ahead of the annual budget and International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission visit, the country’s finance minister said on Tuesday.
An IMF mission is likely to visit Pakistan within the next 10 days to discuss a new bailout programme, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told a news conference.
Pakistan last month completed a short-term $3 billion programme, which helped stave off sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a new longer-term programme.
“Steps must be taken to bring pension costs under control,” the finance minister said, adding that pension payments were a “big liability”. The retirement age in Pakistan is 60.