Govt mulling early retirement 'loan'

(ANSA) - Rome, October 5 - Official sources said Monday the government is mulling an incentive to early retirement, under which employers would pay into the national pension fund on the employee's behalf. This payment would be a loan from the employer to the employee in order to speed up his or her retirement.
    The measure may be included in the budget bill, the sources said.
    It would call for employer and employee to agree on early retirement, with costs to be shared between both parties while the State would pay for a residual amount.
    This would be in the interests of firms wanting to speed up turnover and hire younger staff once older employees retire.
    The employer would also pay for a share of the early retiree's pension, and the retiree in question would pay back the "loan" through national pensions and social security fund INPS via a mechanism that is still to be determined.
    The current so-called Fornero pension law of 2011 also contains measures to encourage early retirement, but the costs rest with employers.