“It will depend on our success with the handling of this crisis but we forecast an increase of 7 to 8 percent…,” he told the reporters at the Seimas.
The coronavirus pandemic should not affect the increasing of pensions, Skvernelis assured.
“There is a formula put in place and we are doing everything within our means to minimize the damage to the economy, which has also been recognized by the European Commission and the forecasts for Lithuania are relatively good… The second quarter will be the most difficult but it will be followed by growth hence I think there are no threats,” he said.
Vice Minister of Social Security and Labor Egle Radisauskiene told the parliamentary Committee on Social Affairs and Labor on Wednesday that pensions would increase next year but at a slower pace than in recent years.
Pensions in Lithuania have been indexed automatically to economic and payroll growth since 2017. In line with existing regulations, pensions cannot be reduced and should be financed from reserve at the time of crisis.
Pensions increased by more than 9 percent on average from January 1, 2020.