Pensioners , seniors – illustrative photo.
Prague – The reduction in the extraordinary valuation of pensions, which was approved by the Senate today, will also help to keep inflation from accelerating. After today's government meeting, Transport Minister Martin Kupka (ODS) told journalists. He did not want to predict how the incoming president Petr Pavel, who will get it signed, will approach the law. According to the amendment, the average pension will increase by around 760 crowns per month from June, without it it would increase by 1770 crowns.
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Kupka described the reduction of the extraordinary valuation, which the government had to do by law due to high inflation, as a necessary step to ensure the future course of the Czech economy. “It's about slowing down the valorization so that it's sustainable and so that we don't, for example, create additional conditions for inflation to grow, which would ultimately affect the elderly and other groups of people who have the deepest pockets,” he said. According to him, the government is trying to ensure decent pensions for current and future pensioners with this measure.
The reduction in valorization is expected to cost 15 billion crowns this year, without it, according to the government, state spending on pensions would have increased by 34.4 billion crowns this year. In the following seven years until 2030, they would gradually increase to a total of roughly 291.3 billion crowns, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (ODS) told the senators. According to the minister, the costs of servicing the state debt amounting to 50.5 billion crowns must be added, so the total costs would increase to 342 billion crowns, which the government would have to borrow.
The opposition is protesting against the reduction in valuation. , which obstructed him in the House of Representatives for five days. According to her, the government's move is unconstitutional, because pensioners were already entitled to an increase after the January inflation data was published. Opposition politicians also criticize the approval of the draft in a legislative emergency, and have announced that they will turn to the Constitutional Court over the law.
Pavel, who will take the presidential oath on Thursday, has not yet indicated how he will stand on the draft. He promised to publish his opinion on Friday.
In January, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the average old-age pension was 19,438 crowns. According to the ministry, after a limited increase, the average pension will exceed 20,000 crowns and reach 46 percent of the average wage. Without the reduction in growth, the average pension would rise to 48 percent of the average wage, compared to around 40 percent of the average wage in the past.
