State pension will increase by 10 GEL in 2015

The basic state pension is set to rise by 10 GEL in September next year for hundreds of thousands of Georgia’s oldest residents, lifting it from 150 GEL to 160 Gel.

After Georgia’s Finance Minister presented a draft of the 2015 state budget to the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary majority, Nodar Khaduri said the growth rate had been defined and the pension would increase for all pensions.

Initially, the first draft of the state budget only outlined an increased monthly pension for some pension categories, and this would be determined on their level of vulnerability.

Khaduri stressed pensions would also rise in 2016. Currently the minimum monthly pension in Georgia is 150 GEL.

There are about 696,197 pensioners registered with the Georgian Social Service Agency, the state authority that overlooked social protection in Georgia. Women aged 60 and older and men over the age of 65 were eligible to receive the state pension.

On a monthly basis the Government allocates 104.4 million GEL to Georgian pensioners.

From next year the Government will have to allocate an additional 6.9 million GEL per month to cover higher pensions.

Under the 2015 state budget, the Government planned to allocate 2.75 billion GEL to the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Affairs, with almost half of that funding, 1.36 billion GEL, assigned to cover pensions in 2015.

The last time pensions increased in Georgia was September 2013. At this time pensions rose from 125 GEL to 150 GEL after the Georgian Dream Coalition came into power. It was the political party’s pre-election promise to raise monthly pensions to liveable levels. The minimum subsistence level for a working-age male was 149 GEL at that time.