The Minister of Labor Giorgos Katrougalos is going to present the government plan on the critical pension reform to the country’s creditors, after presenting the plan to the opposition parties and President.
According to the plan, the government commits to no more cuts in main pensions, however there is a possibility of a cut in main pensions over 2,000 euros and in cases of multiple pensions.
Cuts will be carried out in dividends (up to 30%), lump sums paid out upon retirement (about 10%) and supplementary pensions over 170 euros. The cuts in the supplementary pensions are expected to be about 15% to 20%, however the government aims to keep them as low as possible.
The government wants to replace the ‘zero deficit clause’ with a sustainability provision, so that the pension funds may be able to use their reserves. Furthermore, the government wants to recalculate pensions that are currently paid out before the cuts are introduced. The aim is to justify the existing cuts and circumvent a State Council decision to restore pensions, which may have a cost of 2.5 to 4 billion euros.
Should the government reform plan go ahead, a national pension of 384 euros will be paid out to everyone with 15 years of insurance, on top of a proportional pension, which will be based on wages, years of insurance, age of retirement etc. The plan also includes a provision for all pension funds to merge.
The full 170-page proposal [in Greek].
