Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that Hungary’s elderly will benefit from a pension supplement of “nearly half a month’s pension” in November.
In a Facebook video, PM Orbán greeted seniors on the occasion of the upcoming International Day for Older Persons and noted his government’s commitment to preserving the value of pensions. “We have preserved the value of pensions each year, and in good economic times, we even ensured a pension premium,” he said. The government, he said, had delivered on its pledge even during the coronavirus pandemic and now it was doing so in the midst of the war in Ukraine. Inflation has been higher than expected this year, which makes the pension supplement necessary, Orbán said.
Gergely Gulyás told a press briefing that in the case of the average pension, which is currently 210,700 forints (EUR 538), the supplement will be worth 6,532 forints. Because the increase will be paid retroactively, the elderly will receive a supplement of “close to half a month’s pension”, or 78,384 forints on average, he said. This means that the total annual pension increase will come to almost 85,000 forints, he added. The pension supplement will cost the budget 190 billion forints. The pension supplement is an expression of the government’s appreciation of pensioners, he said. The government hopes it will help pensioners in a year that has seen a significant rise in food prices, he added.