The crisis with the pension system threatens Macedonia more and more. The hole in PIOM cannot be filled in any way, so every third pension must be paid from the state budget. Academician Abdulmenaf Bejeti for "Deutsche Welle"says that now this ratio is 1 to 2,5. Because of this, the Fiscal Council, in which Bezzetti is a member, initiated a shift in the retirement age.

This state institution established by the Parliament took the position that the retirement age should be increased to 67 years and this proposal has already been sent to the Parliament. The amendment is proposed to come into effect in 2026 and apply to both men and women. The decision, however, is in the hands of the legislators.

"Based on the analyzes of the fiscal sustainability of PIOM, we proposed such measures as part of the opinion on the Fiscal Strategy (2025-2029). The announcements are that the fiscal strategy for the year 2025 will be reviewed once again, and most likely then a solution will have to be found," says Bedjeti.

This proposal for the retirement of men and women at the same age of 67 years, according to Bejeti, is based on the aging and increase of the population's life expectancy. The average life expectancy in North Macedonia is increasing, and this is a worldwide trend, he adds.

On the other hand, the Federation of Trade Unions is against raising the retirement age, calling it a "frivolous" and "unacceptable" proposal. From there they say that early retirement is necessary. The president of SSM, Slobodan Trendafilov, says that extending the working life without consultation with the workers is not a solution to the problems in the pension system.

"It is necessary to introduce more conditions for retirement, such as retirement after completing 40 years of service for men and 35 years of service for women, early retirement, introduction of benefited service for construction workers as well as in other activities where work tasks take place in particularly difficult working conditions that are detrimental to the life and health of workers, old-age pension - by age or length of service - by activity, early old-age pension by age, incomplete old-age pension by age, provision of the possibility to purchase seniority", say the SSM.