Caretaker government will pay Easter bonuses to pensioners below poverty line

Bulgaria's caretaker government has allocated funds to pay a bonus of 70 BGN (35 euro) each to pensioners for the Easter holidays. The bonus will be paid to people, whose monthly pension is below the official poverty line for the country,which is 504 BGN, caretaker Prime Minister Galab Donev said on April 6.

He justified the decision that only part of the pensioners will receive supplements with the law extending the budget.

"The MPs of the 48th National Assembly limited the possibilities of financing extraordinary expenses by the caretaker government, which is the main reason why we have difficulties in finding a normative possibility to provide the necessary resources from the budget for Easter supplements to pensions. We understand that many pensioners are in a difficult financial position. The pension supplement is a type of social support for the most vulnerable. It is not part of the pension and does not depend on contributions. The principle in the EU is that social measures should be targeted at the most vulnerable groups in society. No doubt this for the elderly with a pension below the poverty line, which is more than half of the pensioners in our country," the PM said.

About 1 million and 200,000 pensioners are eligible to receive the supplement, the Prime Minister said. 72 million BGN have been allocated for the supplements.

They will be paid by bank transfer or through the country's post offices next week.

"I well understand that this decision by the government will be perceived as unfair by pensioners who will not receive this supplement, especially by those receiving just over 504 BGN. I can assure you that this was the fairest decision under the constraints imposed on us by the 48th National Assembly and the conditions in which the caretaker government is operating," Donev said.

He also commented that the government will submit the draft Budget 2023 to the Parliament within the deadline referred to in by the law.