After increase in pensions, PN complains of ‘minority’ benefiting from raise

Nationalist MP complains that only minority of pensioners benefit from increase in pensions to minimum €7,280 even when contributions are not all paid up • Labour says pension increases will reach 60% of national median salary

The Nationalist Party is claiming that recent budgetary measures to raise the lowest pensions, are discriminating amongst the elderly.

In Budget 2016, the government introduced a minimum contributory pension and bonus of €7,280 for persons with a sufficient number of contributions paid, and a minimum contributory pension and bonus for persons with an insufficient number of contributions paid shall be pro-rata of €7,280.

The measure was introduced to bring a number of pensioners in line with basic minimum safeguards.

“It is only a minority who are seeing this increase, while over 75,000 pensioners have been left with nothing,” MP Paula Mifsud Bonnici said.

“Muscat chooses who to make wealthier, and to leave the rest outside. This is only confirmed by the increase of 2,500 elderly who are at risk of poverty in our country. Even the elderly have become victims of Muscat’s political duplicity.”

Mifsud Bonnici said Muscat was scoring political points by claiming that pensions had been raised for the first time ever, when it was the Nationalist government that granted a full cost of living allowance increase to all pensioners, and granted pensioners the right to continue working beyond pensionable age while keeping their pensions, and a €300 grant for those who keep living in their homes.

In a reaction, Labour said the increase in minimum pensions as over and above the COLA granted annually by the State.

“Nationalist administrations presided over the rise in energy bills, taxes on minimum wage, and out-of-stock medicines… Simon Busuttil’s only proposal in this regard today is raising national insurance contributions for employees and employers.”

Labour said it had increased pensions by €4 to €9 a week in a gradual phasing up until 2027, when pensions will be 60% of the national median salary.