Polish MPs back cash boost for pensioners
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
04.04.2019 11:00
Polish lawmakers on Thursday backed a plan to give pensioners a cash boost, a move pledged by the country's ruling conservatives as part of a new package of benefits.
The lower house of Poland's parliament, the Sejm, is in session in Warsaw on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
The measure passed in a 396-3 vote with 19 abstentions in the lower house of parliament, state news agency PAP reported.
The legislation now goes to the Senate, the upper house of Poland's parliament, for further debate.
A total of PLN 10.7 billion (EUR 2.5 bn, USD 2.8 bn) in additional handouts will be paid out to more than 9.7 million pensioners in May under the government’s “Pension Plus” initiative, Elżbieta Rafalska, the minister for family, labour and social policy, told a news conference last month.
The payments will be offered on a one-off basis and be equivalent in each case to the minimum monthly pension of PLN 1,100 gross, Rafalska said.
The payouts are part of an ambitious new set of spending pledges unveiled by Poland’s governing conservatives during a party convention in late February.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has said that Poland’s pensioners can expect regular annual cash boosts in the future if his ruling conservatives stay in power.
(gs/pk)
Source: TVP Info, PAP