Thursday, November 29 2018 12:19

ArmInfo.On November 29, the Government of Armenia approved the legislative initiative of the Ministry of Labor and on Social Affairs to raise the minimum pension  to the threshold of food poverty of 25,500 drams. The government will  amend the law "On State Pensions", following which starting from  January 1, 2019, the minimum pension will rise immediately by 60% -  from 16,000 to 25,500 drams.

As stated in the brief description of the bill, the purpose of the  presented document is "overcoming extreme (food) poverty among  pensioners". It is noted that according to the data of December 2017,  in 2016, the threshold of food poverty in Armenia was 23,313 drams.  As expected, in 2019, taking into account the 3% annual inflation,  the figure will reach 25,500 drams.  According to the document, as of  June 1, 2019, the number of pensioners in Armenia will be 497,394  people, of whom 463,069 people will receive a retirement pension,  32,420 more will receive recipients of pensions through the power  structures and 1905 military retirees.

Considering the abovementioned, the Armenian government proposed to  introduce a new instrument in the state pension system - "the size of  the minimum pension". "This tool will make it possible to make a more  targeted policy in the area of retirees receiving a low pension," the  document says. The authority to establish the minimum pension  payments is proposed to be transferred to the RA government.   "According to calculations carried out within the framework of budget  processes, from January 1, 2019, the minimum pension is provided at  the level of 25,500 (at the level of extreme poverty). If the project  is approved, according to the RA Law on State Pensions, the pension  lower than the minimum pension level from 1 January, 2019 will be  paid in the amount of the minimum pension payments. It is noted that  the corresponding funds are provided for by the program of  medium-term expenditures of Armenia for 2019- 2021.

As of November 2017, according to the data of the Social Security  Service of the Ministry of Social Affairs of Armenia, 524 thousand  485 pensioners are registered in the Republic of Armenia, of which  460 thousand receive a retirement pension (basic pension is 16  thousand drams, plus allowances for seniority - 800 drams for the  first 10 years and 500 for the next) and 64 thousand pensioners  receive an insurance old-age pension of 16 thousand drams. The  concept and statistical calculation of the "minimum food basket" in  the country was abolished in the late 2000s.