MILIĆ: REPUBLIKA SRPSKA GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO EXTRAORDINARY PENSION ADJUSTMENTS WHENEVER THERE ARE REAL SOURCES OF FUNDING

BIJELJINA, AUGUST 12 /SRNA/ - The Director of the Republika Srpska Pension and Disability Insurance /PIO/ Fund, Mladen Milić, told SRNA that pensions had increased by 86.23 per cent in nominal terms, and by 127.15 per cent in real terms, from 2013 through August this year.

Milić stressed that the Republika Srpska Government remains committed to introducing extraordinary pension adjustments whenever its financial capacity allows, namely, whenever there are genuine sources of funding secured through increased contribution revenues. He stated that the Republika Srpska Government monitors retail price trends and average wages in the first half of the year, as these are key indicators for maintaining the achieved standard in pension payments for all beneficiaries. Milić said that pensions had been adjusted 25 times over the past 12 years; there were 10 regular annual adjustments in accordance with the Pension and Disability Insurance Law, and the Republika Srpska Government had decided on 15 occasions to introduce extraordinary adjustments. According to him, pensioners and the payment of pensions remain a priority for the Republika Srpska Government when it comes to payments from the Treasury, as evidenced by the fact that pension payments have not been delayed by a single day for more than 10 years, and are usually made several days before the 10th of each month. "In the past two years, the Republika Srpska Government was the only government among the countries that emerged from the former Yugoslavia to pay two pensions in December - the November pension at the beginning of December and, in the final days of December, the December pension as well," Milić stressed. Milić reminded that in mid-June, the Republika Srpska Government, together with the President of Republika Srpska, announced that, to protect the standard of pensioners, it would decide in the third quarter on the 15th extraordinary pension adjustment, of at least 3.5 per cent, as indicated by the parameters used to determine pension adjustments. He added that, accordingly, the Republika Srpska Government decided at its session on July 9 to introduce the 15th extraordinary pension adjustment, amounting to 3.55 per cent. "This extraordinary pension adjustment for August, which will be paid at the beginning of September together with the regular annual adjustment of 6.45 per cent introduced in January, represents a nominal adjustment of 10 per cent since the beginning of the year, meaning that pensions have effectively or actually increased by 10.23 per cent in the January-August period," Milić stressed. The PIO Fund director noted that a one-off financial assistance payment to pensioners has also been announced for late September or early October, for which purpose the Republika Srpska Government has allocated around BAM 32 million. Milić said that the one-off financial assistance, as has been the case on several occasions in previous years, particularly during and after the coronavirus pandemic, would be paid to all pensioners. "As already announced by the offices of the Prime Minister and the President of Republika Srpska, beneficiaries whose pension is lower than the average pension paid for the month preceding the decision will receive a one-off payment of BAM 120, and those whose pension is higher than the average will receive BAM 80," Milić said. He noted that the one-off payment to pensioners would be paid in the same way as their pensions, either into their bank accounts or through the post office.