| Pensions to remain frozen in 2010? |
| 2 November 2009 | 15:08
| Source:
Večernje novosti |
BELGRADE --
The pension system, accused of "wasting from the state budget the most", will be the first to undergo cuts that should save money, a Belgrade daily claims.
One of the proposals to this end is the freezing of pensions in 2010, that should, "according to utterly rough estimates, save about RSD 15bn by the end of next year", Večernje Novosti writes.
“If pensions were harmonized with the expenses of living according to the existing law – on April 1 and October 1, 2009 – the figure would have had to be increased proportional to the inflation,” explains Milan Nenadić of the Pensioners Association of Vojvodina.
“If the inflation reaches three percent for a six-month period, we would have the amount of 14 – 15bn for the year,” he added.
But, even though pensions were frozen at the same level this year as well, not a single dinar has been saved, says the newspaper, and adds that the finger has been pointed at last year’s "extraordinary ten percent increase".
This raise was preceded by the regular fall 4.13 percent harmonization. The ten percent hike to all intents and purposes marked an "advance payment for 2009", says the article.
“The decision about the ten percent raise was made because of the extremely difficult position of the pensioners at the time. But if pensions were to remain frozen next year, I’m afraid that the senior citizens would be in an even worse situation,” Nenadić said.
“That’s why we sent a letter to the prime minister and the ministry in charge describing the repercussions of such a decision.”
However, it has not yet been officially confirmed that the freezing of incomes was under consideration. Labor and Social Policy Minister Rasim Ljajić warned that there should not be any "fast and sharp cuts" in the reform of the pension system.
The office of the Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabić, whose party, PUPS, campaigned on a promise of improved position of Serbia's pensioners, announced that a draft of the reform would be finished by the end of the year, but, the daily writes, no specific proposals have been drafted yet.
“We haven’t thought about freezing the pensions in order to save money,” said Đuro Perić, vice-president of the state pension fund, PIO, board of directors and member of PUPS.
"Only after the budget proposal is done will we know what to do next. The IMF delegation did not discuss this measure at all with our representatives and left all the decisions to our experts,“ according to Perić.
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