Ukraine signaled a showdown is coming with the International Monetary Fund over a pension revamp that’s needed to maintain disbursements from the country’s $17.5 billion bailout.
The Washington-based lender is demanding that Ukraine raises the retirement age by 2027, to 63 from 62 for men and 60 for women, to alleviate losses at the state pension fund, Social Minister Andriy Reva said in an interview. The government wants the thresholds to remain unchanged, instead seeking to widen the pool of contributors to eliminate the deficit – 145 billion hryvnia ($5.4 billion) last year – by 2024, he said.
