site.btaPensions Ceiling to Be Set at Lv 1,200 Starting July 1, 2019

October 4 (BTA) - The ceiling of all pensions, new and
old, will be set at 1,200 leva starting July 1, 2019, Finance
Minister Vladislav Goranov told journalists here Thursday after
meeting with the leaders of the Confederation of Independent
Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB) and the Podkrepa Confederation
of Labour. The meeting was also attended by Prime Minister Boyko
 Borissov and Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov.

The sides agreed to raise by 50 per cent the energy poverty
assistance provided to 220,000 people. CITUB President Plamen
Dimitrov explained that an additional 40 million leva will be
spent on that.

The plans so far were to raise the maximum pension, which
currently stands at 910 leva, to 1,040 leva starting January 1,
2019.

Some 41,000 people will be affected by the planned changes,
Dimitrov said. According to Goranov, the methodology used for
the allocation of pensions is imperfect and in need of changes.
The Finance Minister pledged that high pensions that had not
been earned will not be allocated.

Wages in the public will be raised by ten per cent starting
January 1, 2019, Dimitrov recalled, adding that CITUB wants
people in fieldwork operational units and those working at
revenue agencies to get higher pay raises. RY/MY