On Thursday, 20 June, the Saeima adopted in the first reading and by the urgent procedure amendments to the Law on State Pensions, as well as eight accompanying draft laws which provide for indexation of persons under LVL 200 as of 1 September of this year.
The amendments setting forth an increase in pensions will be adopted in the second and final reading during the extraordinary plenary sitting of the Saeima scheduled for 9 July.
The amendments to the Law on State Pensions envisage that as of 1 September 2013 pensions under LVL 200 will be indexed by applying a coefficient of 1.04. Pensions for the disabled, service pensions and survivor’s pensions will also be indexed.
After the indexation in September, the average old-age pension will increase by LVL 5.58, and the disability pension by LVL 3.79. As a result of the pension indexation, budget expenditures will increase by LVL 10.2 million in 2013 and by LVL 30.1 million in 2014.
The plan for this indexation was elaborated by the Council for the Affairs of Senior Citizens upon the assignment of the Social and Employment Matters Committee; the Council is headed by the Minister of Welfare and composed of non-governmental organisations representing the interests of pensioners.
Aija Barča, Chairperson of the Social and Employment Matters Committee, which is responsible for this draft law, pointed out that on 10 April the Saeima received a submission signed by 106,004 citizens requesting the resumption of indexation of pensions as of October of this year. Taking into account the opinion of the people, the Social and Employment Matters Committee asked the Ministry, in collaboration with the Latvian Pensioners’ Federation, to elaborate by 1 August a mutually acceptable solution for the resumption of pension indexation.
The package of draft laws consists of amendments to the Law on State Pensions, the Law On Compulsory Social Insurance against Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases, the Law on Service Pensions for Diplomats, the Law on Service Pensions for Employees of the Ministry of the Interior with Special Service Ranks, the Law on Service Pensions for Officials of the Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau, the Law on Service Pensions for Military Persons, the Law on Service Pensions for Prosecutors, the Law on Service Pensions for Judges, as well as the Law On Service Pensions for State and Local Government Professional Orchestras, Choirs, Concert Organisations, Theatre and Circus Artists and the Allowances for Creative Work of Ballet Artists.
Chairperson Barča stated that the Social and Employment Matters Committee will convene for meetings on 4 and 5 July in order to review proposals submitted for the second reading and to consider the opinions submitted by the ministries on the financial impact of the amendments.
Saeima Press Service