Bahrain’s Shura Council has blocked a bill to allow civil servants to retire before 45 with minimal impact on their pensions, a report said.

The proposal was twice pushed through by MPs, according to the report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Bahrain's Pension Fund Authority (PFA) warned it would place a massive burden on the country's finances and administrative affairs - branding it too expensive and warning it could lead to a shortage of government employees.

It estimated the average annual cost of the proposal at around BD2.4 million.

Rules currently state that government workers who retire after 50 qualify for 80 per cent of their pension, but MPs wanted to allow them to retire below 45 with 75 per cent of their pension.

The parliamentary proposal, approved by MPs in June last year, also included allowing people to retire between 45 and 50 with 77.5 per cent of their pension.

Shura Council services committee secretary Dr Jihad Al Fadhel said parliament's proposal would result in more civil servants taking early retirement. – TradeArabia News Service