site.btaPensions to Rise by at Least 2.4 Per Cent in 2015, Deputy PM Says

Pensions to Rise by at Least 2.4 Per Cent in 2015, Deputy PM Says


Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - It has been proposed to increase
pensions by 2.4 per cent in 2015, and the National Social
Security Institute is already working on this option, Bulgarian
Deputy Prime Minister and Labour and Social Policy Minister
Yordan Hristoskov told journalists here on Monday.

He said that the three months during which the caretaker Cabinet
 has been in office were a difficult period, but all welfare
payments were nevertheless regularly disbursed. More than 3,000
families were assisted by a lump-sum allowance, and benefits
were paid for victims of natural disasters and severe accidents.
 The compensations for the socially disadvantaged due to the
increase of electricity prices is another unscheduled payment.
"If we adhered to the ordinance in the version in which we found
 it, the electricity hike should have gone uncompensated,"
Hristoskov said. "The caretaker Cabinet decided, however, that
people should get larger compensations. The Ordinance on these
increased compensations is expected to be gazetted on Tuesday.
Requests for welfare allowances could be submitted until October
 31, nearly 300,000 applications have already been accepted, and
 200,000 people have been paid. The increased compensations will
 be paid in December," the Deputy PM specified.

"Under the caretaker Cabinet, the unemployment rate did not
increase and youth unemployment decreased slightly," Hristoskov
said. "There will be a seasonal increase in autumn, but it will
be moderate."

Thirty million leva under Operational Programme Human Resources
Development were relocated for employment promotion, which will
enable business to find work for another 8,000 people. Another
7.6 million leva were allocated for personal assistants to
people with disabilities and elderly people.

"The caretaker Cabinet proposed a reform of the social insurance
 system," the Labour and Social Policy Minister said. "The key
priorities in this respect concern the pensions of the people
who have worked under Labour Category One and Two. The
Government developed three options, which we presented in detail
 to the public. These are working options, which the National
Assembly should approve," he added.