Life will soon become easier for Georgia’s socially vulnerable pensioners after the Government announced their benefits would increase from the beginning of next year. Teachers’ salaries were also set to rise, the authorities said today.
From September 1, 2015, pension benefits for Georgia’s socially vulnerable population will increase up to 25 GEL.
After today’s Governmental meeting Finance Minister Nodar Khaduri said the extra amount each pensioner would receive would be determined on their level of vulnerability.
He noted the Health Ministry’s budget had increased by 25 million GEL and a portion of this would be spent on increasing pensions next year.
Khaduri said the state pension would increase for all citizens from 2016. Until then only the country’s most vulnerable would enjoy more financial support.
Poverty remained one of the major concerns in Georgia, according to an assessment by the United Nations Development Program in Georgia. Despite a number of social programs implemented by the Government in recent years, a significant part of the population still lived below the poverty line.
This new initiative aimed to tackle this issue.
On another note, today Minister Khaduri also said teachers’ basic salary would increase by 50 GEL, while highly qualified teachers would get an additional 200 GEL each month, starting from September 2015.
The Minister noted next year’s state budget had been increased by 170 million GEL in comparison to the first draft version of the document.
The Defence Ministry, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs were allocated an additional 15 million GEL each in next year’s budget.