BERLIN, May 25 (UPI) -- Axel Weber, the head of Germany's federal Bundesbank, said Tuesday his country's legal retirement age should be raised from 65 to 67.
Weber said Germany's aging population makes raising the retirement age unavoidable. He urged the German government to change its social security policies accordingly, the online version of German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported.
Weber's strong advice follows the model set by his outspoken predecessor, Ernst Welteke, who resigned in April after admitting accepting a large gift from a private bank he was charged with regulating. Both men have used the federal bank position as a bully pulpit from which to preach economic reform.
Weber said a good first step toward raising Germany's retirement age would be increasing the number of Germans who actually wait until they turn 65, rather than quitting work earlier as many currently do.
Weber also said Germany should consider changing the way it taxes workers to pay for public health insurance to better reflect workers real income and should work to curb government spending.
