BUCHAREST - Romanian state pensions will rise twice in 2024, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Thursday, beginning in January when they will be indexed by 13.8% and again in September when they will be recalculated based on a pending bill.
The new pension bill will introduce a new way to calculate pensions with clear indexing criteria to prevent unstable hikes. The bill will also gradually raise the retirement age for women to 65 from 63 at present, give incentives to people who want to work past the contribution threshold and ensures better pensions for the elderly living below the poverty threshold.The last major pension reform in Romania occurred during a 2009-2010 IMF-led aid deal, when the retirement age was raised to 65 for men and 63 for women, and some spending caps were enforced.