“This decision continues to deprive the Easter allowance by the vast majority of low -income pensioners … This year they will only be entitled to 11000, that is, about 1/3 of the low -income pensioners,” the Cypriot pensioners’ Association notes.
Fewer by 2,500 are expected to be the low -income pensioners this year, as the ECYSY said in a statement, while noting that it will be less than 5,200 compared to 2023. The EKYY in its announcement on today’s Council of Ministers’ decision on the allowance and the income criteria that apply states that “this decision continues to deprive the Easter allowance by the vast majority of low -income pensioners”, noting that “this year they will only be entitled to 11000”.
Referring to an official announcement, the EKYY says “that the number of low -income pensioners expected to benefit from the Easter allowance this year is around 11000, was 13,500 last year and 2023 was 16,200”. According to EKYYY, the reason for this reduction is that “the government did not revise the income criteria for Easter allowance since 2022 and the every year’s increases from the Social Security Fund reduce the beneficiaries every year.”
It notes, then, that the income threshold for Easter allowance based on the decision of the Christodoulides government remains at € 7,000 a year for a single household and at € 12,000 a year for a two -person household.
“We remind you that the income threshold of poverty is € 10,324 a year for single household and at € 15,486 per year for two pensioners’ households,” the EKASY notes, adding that “on the basis of this year’s decision, the new government continues to divide them.”
“ECYY expresses its dissatisfaction with the continued perseverance and the new government not to reinstate a right that retirees won with their struggles,” the statement said, adding that it is abusive to retirees “to give it 40-45 million euros to the company. Economy indicators, last year’s revenue was 1.5 billion euros more than expected due to increased tax revenue due to continued accuracy and at the same time reduce the number of Easter beneficiaries. “
“We demand the government to reinstate the criteria that were in force before the Banking Crisis for the Easter Allowance as well as for the mother allowance and to grant compensatory benefits,” he concludes.
Source: KYPE