Bolivia reduces retirement age

Bolivia has lowered the country's retirement age to 58 - from 65 for men and 60 for women - bucking the global trend where countries are pushing people to work longer to ease the financial burden of rising life expectancy.

Critics say Bolivia's law, which also nationalises the pension system and generously extends coverage to the poor, is overly ambitious and unsustainable.

The country's left-wing president Evo Morales signed the bill on Friday, surrounded by members of the powerful Bolivian workers federation which helped draft the law.