IMF supports abolition of Law on Temporary Reduction of Pensions

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) agrees with the idea to abolish the Law on Temporary Reduction of Pensions, which was implemented as an urgency measure during the crisis, the head of the IMF office in Belgrade, Sebastian Sosa, says for Politika’s issue of June 16.

– We also agree with the idea that pensioners with lower earnings, who will not feel the benefit from the abolition of this law, get some kind of an income raise, the amount of which will depend on the fiscal room in the budget – Sosa says.

This will be discussed in September, when the talks on the 2019 budget start. In the future, when the crisis measures are abolished, we believe that pension increases should be linear, Sosa says in response to the question whether the idea that only pensioners with lower earnings will get raises following the abolition of the law is acceptable to the IMF.

When asked whether the Government of Serbia has created another problem by solving the first one, as the abolition of the law will not mean raises for all pensioners, Sosa says:

– When it comes to legal risks, we are not experts in that field, but we have realized that the government is preparing various options in order to minimize potential legal risks.

This means that the financial package launched by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic is acceptable to the IMF, but that the Fund is still somewhat reserved when it comes to the percentage of the increase of lower pensions, Politika writes.

Međunarodni monetarni fond - MMF Beograd

International Monetary Fund

IMF

Law on Temporary Reduction of Pensions

abolition of Law on Temporary Reduction of Pensions

Sebastian Sosa

pension increases

pension reductions

pensions in Serbia

law on pensions

law on reduction of pensions

reduction of pensions

IMF arrangement