On July 29, Minsk / Ekaterina Nechaeva - BELTA /. In Belarus, the minimum old-age pension will increase from August 1 to Br244,100. This was announced today to journalists by Valentina Koroleva, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection of Belarus, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The maximum pension amount (for non-working miners) will be Br1,337,000. The first pension payments in the increased amount will be made on August 1, and in some regions, for example in Minsk, on July 31, as August 1 falls on a weekend.
Valentina Koroleva recalled that from August, all types of labour pensions in Belarus will be increased, as stipulated by Decree No. 371 of July 21. "The actual earnings of pensioners will be adjusted when pensions are assigned and recalculated using the average wage of employees in Belarus for the second quarter of the current year. According to Belstat, it amounted to Br1,169,684. Based on this wage, the earnings of each pensioner will be "modernised"," said the Deputy Minister, specifying that the pension will be recalculated individually for each pensioner. The average pension amount will increase by 12.5%, the minimum pension will increase by approximately 10%, and the maximum pension by 13%.
The specialist also noted that from August, minimum labour and social pensions will be recalculated due to the increase in the subsistence minimum budget. "This indicator is recalculated quarterly at the prices of the last month of the quarter. According to preliminary estimates, the subsistence minimum budget per capita in June prices will be Br274,510. Based on this figure, minimum and social pensions will be revised," explained Valentina Koroleva. According to her, the minimum pension is 25% of the subsistence minimum budget. Thus, the minimum old-age pension, as a calculation indicator, will be Br68,628 from August.
The increase in labour pensions will affect 2.4 million pensioners, and another 52,000 people will have their social pensions indexed. To increase these payments from August, an additional Br146.8 billion per month will be required, and by the end of the year, this amount will exceed Br734 billion. Thus, pension payments in Belarus from August will amount to Br1,323 billion per month.
Valentina Koroleva stressed that the proposal to increase pensions "was driven by a sufficient reserve of funds in the Social Protection Fund". "We are not concerned about the prospects of pension payments. Moreover, the arrears in the payment of insurance pension contributions for the first half of the year significantly decreased - by Br10 billion," she said.
The Deputy Minister also recalled that pensions in Belarus are being increased for the second time this year. The first increase was in January - by an average of 9%. For the first half of the year, the average old-age pension increased by more than 20% compared to the same period in 2009 and amounted to Br491,600 in June. The average minimum old-age pension increased by 16.2%, amounting to Br268,100 in June. The real amount of the appointed monthly pension (adjusted for the consumer price index for goods and services) in June 2010 compared to June 2009 increased by 12.4%.
According to Valentina Koroleva, Belarus will manage to meet the indicators of the socio-economic development forecast for 2010, which relate to pension provision. -0-
BELTA