Equal pension age abandoned under cuts to Hausner public spending plans

The government has introduced changes to the Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner's plan to cut public spending. Officials have abandoned proposals for an equal pension age for men and women and gave up the verification of disability and sickness benefits. The government's decision did not surprise analysts because Prime Minister Marek Belka warned in June that changes to the to Hausner plan would be made. Belka said: "It is better to realize 90% of the state finances improvement scheme than not to realize it at all." The government has modified the pension bill project by introducing solutions, which limit the pensioners' possibilities to earn extra money while receiving state pension. The changes to the pension bill will result in savings of zł.500 million for the state budget. (Rzeczpospolita, p.A4; Gazeta Wyborcza, p.18) E.B.