By: Sara Bertoncelj
Not only that the pensions will not be reduced by six percent, but they are expected to increase by almost six percent in 2021, and in the coming years by another two to three percent. This was announced today by the Minister of Finance Andrej Šircelj. He also denied the misleading reporting of some media, which claimed last week that there would be a reduction. More than obvious, SAB MP Alenka Bratušek was also wrong. She repeatedly expressed concern that pensions for pensioners would be reduced again by 25,000 percent – just as, according to her, this had already happened in 2012.
“And to start with pensions again, what I have already said, I apologise for repeating myself – they are expected to increase by a little less than six percent in 2021, which I do not think has been the case for a long time, if even has ever happened in the history of Slovenia. And in the coming years by two to three percent, that is planned. Of course, all inflation is also covered here, so there will be no problem with that. Because even if inflation was to happen, we have automatic stabilisers here, and of course it will not happen that pensioners would ever get realistically less in any case,” explained the Minister of Finance Andrej Šircelj and denied the allegations that have recently been spread by some media – saying that pensions in 2022 are expected to fall by six percent and more.
Last week, MP Marko Pogačnik, who denied the possibility of lowering pensions, also responded. He emphasised that this government has already shown that pensioners are one of its priorities and that they are aware of the weaknesses of this segment. In addition to Pogačnik, the head of the government advisory group, dr. Matej Lahovnik, also spoke up, pointing out that it is completely misleading to predict the reduction of pensions on the basis of lower budget expenditures for the pension fund, and described the reporting on the reduction of pensions as “fake news”. On the other hand, the president of the SAB party, Alenka Bratušek, insisted at the session of the National Assembly that the funds for pensions are supposedly being reduced by 230 million euros, which could lead to the pensions of pensioners being reduced again by 25 thousand percent.
