Egypt: Retirement age to rise to 65 by 2040
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Sep 2019
A new Social Insurance and Pensions Act, passed in early July by lawmakers, aims to raise the age of retirement to 65 by the year 2040.
In 2034, the retirement age will be increased to 62; in 2036 to 63; in 2038 to 64; and in 2040 to 65. The current official retirement age is 60.
The plan to increase the retirement age is to address the financial deficit in the pension system, and to reduce the burden on the public treasury, reported Ahram Online.
However, among other measures, the new law provides for social pensions to rise by up to 15% on a yearly basis to help retirees cope with inflation.
In addition, a recent UN report on the world’s population states that Egypt, with a population of 100m this year, is forecast to have 140m people by 2040.
The main beneficiaries of the new law are senior citizens who paid subscriptions to the social insurance system for at least 120 months.
The new Act, which integrates the previous social security law and pensions law into one, also introduces unemployment insurance, with employers to deduct 1% from the monthly salary of workers who subscribe to the unemployment insurance scheme. M