Cabinet meeting on budget put off amid pension tension

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 25 - A meeting of Premier Mario Draghi's cabinet to examine the 2022 budget bill has been put off from Tuesday until Thursday to allow more time for an agreement to be reached within the government and with trade unions over pension reform.
    Draghi has said that, after three years, the 'quota 100' pension system allowing for early retirement if the sum of age and years worked reached 100 would be scrapped on the grounds that it is too costly for the State.
    However, Matteo Salvini's League party, which championed the quota 100 that was passed by the first government of ex-premier Giuseppe Conte, is unhappy about this and some of the other parties supporting the board coalition government reportedly have reservations too.
    There is also talk of the 'quota 100' system of being replaced by one which would require this sum of age and years of contributions to equal at least 102 or 104, as a temporary stepping stone to a system in which everyone would have to reach the full retirement age of over 67 to start claiming a State pension.
    However, Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic Patty (PD), has said the 'quota' system should be ditched completely and replaced by a mechanism that allows for early retirement for people who do jobs that are highly demanding physically. (ANSA).