The November pension premium, which every person receiving pension and pension-like services is eligible for, some 2.5 million people in total, will be higher than ever before, the Minister of State for Family and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of Human Capacities said at a press conference held on Wednesday in Budapest.

Katalin Novák said the maximum amount of the pension premium is HUF 22,000, while the average is HUF 20,000. “Everyone who has a monthly pension of HUF 80,000 or more will be eligible for the HUF 20,000 pension premium in November,” the Minister of State pointed out.

She stressed that the pension premium to be paid in November will be the highest to date as this year the Hungarian economy has expanded even more than last year and the year before.

Regarding the regulation of the additional allowance, she said the state is able to pay a pension premium if the growth of the Hungarian economy exceeds 3.5 per cent. The weekly amount of pensions is multiplied by an amount that equals the rate of the GDP increase in excess of the above limit, the Minister of State detailed.

According to their calculations, this year the Hungarian GDP will increase by 4.6 per cent, and so those eligible will receive 1.1 times the amount of the weekly pension as a pension premium. Mrs Novák also highlighted that the government had extended the range of eligible persons, and as a result not only persons entitled to old-age pensions, but also individuals receiving pension-like services – some 2.5 million people in total – will receive pension premiums in November.

She pointed out that they are providing a pension premium for the third time this year so that pensioners appreciate that they are also entitled to a share of the growth of the Hungarian economy.

The Minister of State indicated that, together with the pension premium, those eligible will also receive a one-time pension supplement in November. She recalled that in 2010 they had promised to preserve the purchase value of pensions; in nine years, pensions have increased “by 33 per cent nominally, while if we take a look at their purchase value, there has been a 10 per cent increase compared with 2010,” she stressed.

Mrs Novák recalled that every year they raise pensions at a rate corresponding to the planned rate of inflation. In January, they increased pensions by 2.7 per cent, and the difference emerging due to the 3.4 per cent annual expected rate of inflation will be paid to those entitled to pension services subsequently.

In November, pensioners will also receive the one-time pension supplement, calculated for the whole year, together with their regular pensions. The average amount of the pension supplement will be HUF 10,000, she stressed. In answer to a journalist’s question, the Minister of State said there is HUF 75.7 billion available in the central budget for the payment of the pension premium and the one-time pension supplement. In answer to another journalist’s question, Mrs Novák said at present, the government is not planning any changes to the pension system as pensioners “are best off with the current model which preserves the value of pensions”.

(MTI)