The average amount of the pension premium will be HUF 20,160, while that of the pension supplement will be HUF 11,000 this year. Pensioners will receive them in one sum in November, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at the meeting of the Council of the Elderly held in the Parliament Building on Tuesday.

He observed that, based on the agreement concluded with pensioners, the pension premium is related to the favourable performance of the economy, while the pension supplement is tied to the rate of inflation.

At the meeting held on the occasion of the International Day for Older Persons, the Prime Minister also recalled that in previous years pensioners had received various benefits from time to time in the form of Erzsébet Vouchers, while this year – as the Erzsébet Vouchers have been phased out – they received household utility vouchers as financial assistance.

He also said that, as part of the family protection action plan, child care allowance will also be available to grandparents from 1 January 2020. In this regard, he cited a survey which concludes that there is a close correlation between the readiness of young people to have children and grandparental assistance, meaning that young people find it easier to decide to start a family if they know that there are grandparents whom they can rely on.

Mr Orbán stressed that in the past one year the economy has performed in accordance with or even slightly above the government’s expectations which is also good news for pensioners.

This year, the Hungarian economy’s expansion will be most certainly above 4 per cent, and according to cautious estimates, it could be as high as 4.6 per cent, he said.

He added that while next year the opportunities of the European economy will be more limited than this year, the Hungarian economy will not suffer as a result, as the government will be able to launch mechanisms designed to maintain growth which will permit a high growth rate also in 2020.

In consequence, it will be possible to expect a pension premium payment in the second half of next year as well, the Prime Minister said.

(MTI)