Prague, April 12 (CTK) – Pensions will regularly rise more than so far and the maximum retirement age will be set at 65 years, according to an amendment to the pension law that the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Czech parliament, passed today.
The bill was approved by the votes of 121 out of the 156 MPs present.
The Senate, the upper house, will debate the bill now.
At present, their is no limit set for the retirement age increase.
Under the approved change, proposed by the senior government Social Democrats (CSSD), pensions should be increased by one-half of the rise in real wages, instead of by one-third, and by the rise in the prices of commodities that seniors buy.
This inflation level would be used for the calculation if it were more advantageous for pensioners than the current general rise in prices.
The difference between the average wage and the average old-age pension will not bee rising so steeply, PM Bohuslav Sobotka (CSSD) said.
The Social Democrats pushed through the new indexation formula as recommended by the pension commission.
If it were applied, a monthly pension would rise by some 500 crowns on average instead of the current 400 crowns next year.
The state would spend additional 2.3 billion crowns on pensions next year, CSSD deputy group head Roman Sklenak said previously.
($1=25.112 crowns)
