Mikiq: Pensioners buy less every month; had our proposal been accepted, pensions would have risen by 40 euros

Zoran Mikiq, head of the URA Citizens’ Movement parliamentary group, said pensioners in Montenegro can buy less with their pensions every month, because pension increases do not keep pace with the rising cost of living.

Prices have risen 4.3% since the start of the year, while pensions have grown by only 1.45%. URA offered a concrete solution: a 40-euro pension increase, claiming the money for it is in the budget.

“Had Parliament accepted our proposal at the end of July, the pensions to be paid this week would have been 40 euros higher,” Mikiq said. He stressed that the proposal was based on money that exists in the budget and that no ruling-coalition deputy disputed URA’s calculations.

The problem, he said, is not a lack of money but the authorities’ will to direct it where citizens need it most. According to official data, the real value of pensions is three percent lower than at the end of last year.

The average pension in July was 550.84 euros, up from 542.96 euros at the end of last year — an increase of less than eight euros (1.45%) in seven months. The hardest blow for pensioners comes from health care: health services have become three percent more expensive and medicines in Montenegrin pharmacies are 15% pricier than in August last year, so residents of border municipalities buy medicines in neighboring countries solely because of the lower price.

Source: RTCG