Steven N.
Hungarian pensioners can expect to receive an extra HUF 100,000 in November, as pension premiums and lump-sum pension increases will arrive together with an increased monthly allowance.
András Tállai, State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, told the Mediaworks News Center that in mid-November, together with regular monthly benefits, beneficiaries will also receive the supplementary pension increase (which is 1.2% retroactively) in addition to the pension premium.
Tállai stated that the 13-month pension was abolished under the government of Ferenc Gyurcsány, but the promise included in the law that pensioners would receive a premium in the event of strong economic growth was not fulfilled either. “This, of course, never happened because when the left was in power, the country was on the brink of financial and economic collapse. So their promise came true by misleading the electorate,” the State Secretary affirmed.
However, the suspension of the 13-month pension and the introduction of the pension premium did not occur not under the government of Ferenc Gyurcsány, but under his successor Gordon Bajnai. The latter was the Prime Minister of Hungary only from April 14, 2009, and Fidesz-KDNP has been in power since 2010.
In addition, the pension premium is expected to cost HUF 146.5 billion, while the payment of the full 13-month benefit will cost HUF 160 billion more than planned. Meanwhile, a planned tax cut could reduce pension fund revenue by 350 billion.
[Népszava]
