The pensioner’s standard depends on the amount of contributions paid for pension and disability insurance during the working life of each employee and the length of contributions paid, that is, the length of pensionable service. In the entire previous period, salaries in Serbia were significantly lower compared to more economically developed European countries, which resulted in modest pensions for the largest number of pensioners.
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This was precisely the reason for asking the authorities at the session of the Assembly of the Association of Pensioners of Serbia held yesterday that the ratio of average pensions in relation to average net earnings in Serbia should be raised to a participation level of at least 50 percent.
At the same time, as it was pointed out at the Assembly of the Federation, the harmonization of pensions should be supported in accordance with Article 80 of the Law on PIO, which established three models for determining the amount of these incomes depending on the share in the gross domestic product (GDP). As the share of pensions in GDP is below 10 percent, the adjustment from January 1 should be in line with earnings.
The work program of the Association of Pensioners of Serbia for the year 2024 foresees pension spending financed from real incomes, with estimates of real growth of the gross domestic product rate of 3.5 percent and reaching the total GDP of 8,773.9 billion dinars. In relation to the predicted growth of the total GDP, pensions have increased by 14.8 percent since January, so that the average pension in January amounts to 45,742 dinars.
In addition to the aforementioned adjustment, the Government of Serbia extended the validity of the decree from 2018 in 2024 on the payment of an increase of up to five percent with the pension for all pensioners whose income is up to 48,476 dinars. It is important to note that all pensioners in Serbia received legal pension amounts during 2023. Compared to the average consumer basket, which in November 2023 amounted to 101,335 dinars or the minimum consumer basket, which amounted to more than 52,442 dinars, the largest number of pension beneficiaries, more than 75 percent, received significantly lower pensions.
The association says that it is necessary to continue with the initiated initiative on the return of reduced amounts of pensions under the Law on temporary regulation of payment methods in the period 2014-2018. Submit a proposal to the government to create a refund program that would not damage the achieved financial stability of the state. Based on the majority consensus of the members, together with other relevant social actors, this issue was opened in the process of adopting amendments to the Law on PIO.
According to the revised Fiscal Strategy for the year 2024, despite the predicted growth of consumer prices of five percent at the level of the annual average, a real growth rate of personal consumption of 4.3 percent is expected. The financial plan of the PIO Fund for the year 2024 foresees 1,077.7 billion dinars, of which funds for old-age, disability and family pensions are 906.3 billion or 84 percent of the total plan, and the total pension rights are 1,056.7 billion dinars, which is 98 percent.
According to the same plan, the source income, i.e. the contribution for pension and disability insurance, will amount to 824.8 billion dinars, which is enough for 91 percent of pension coverage, and the difference of 237.6 billion dinars is provided by a transfer from the republic budget, for all rights from PIO as well as assistance to pension beneficiaries with lower pension incomes. This has achieved the stability and sustainability of the pension system as a long-term guaranteed right from pension and disability insurance, according to the program of the Association of Pensioners of Serbia.
The union will also prominently insist on consistent compliance with statutory norms and advocacy against political instrumentalization.
(Politics)
