France’s Ayrault Seeks to Cut Retirement Within Three Weeks (Bloomberg)

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault is seeking to revamp the retirement age back down to 60. Ayrault said the decree should be introduced “very fast” to honor the commitment of President Francois Hollande, sworn in to office May 15, to “correct and remove an injustice.” In 2010, France started increasing the retirement age to 62 over an eight-year timetable to reduce the country’s pension costs and bring public borrowing down. Roughly 100,000 people at age 60 who started work at age 18 or 19, provided they made contributions to social security for 41 years, would benefit from the reduction in the first year. The reduction would cost $1.3 billion (1 billion euros), according to Ayrault, who will meet with union and employer organizations May 29.