S'pore raises retirement age

S'pore raises retirement age

SINGAPORE (AFP): Singapore has raised the retirement age of employees by two years to 62 to combat a perennial labor shortage and give its rapidly aging population a longer stint in the workplace.

The move, which comes with measures to reduce employers' costs of retaining older workers, is part of a plan to eventually raise the retirement age to 67 in the island of three million people, news reports said yesterday.

Labor Minister Lee Boon Yang told parliament yesterday that the move to raise the retirement age addressed the economic and social repercussions of Singapore's ageing population.

The new retirement age takes effect in 1999. Some 10,000 Singaporeans due to retire that year will benefit.