Outstanding pensions issue eases
Pending applications for main pensions were reduced by 22.4% within a year, but more than 240,000 applications for main and auxiliary pensions remained outstanding at the end of 2021, according to a report released by the Parliamentary Budget Office on Tuesday.
The data reveal not only the progress recorded by the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) within 2021, but also the size of the problem that continues to affect hundreds of thousands of retirees.
In total, at the end of 2021, there were 242,061 files concerning main and/or auxiliary pensions waiting to be processed, with over three quarters of them (182,874) being overdue as they have been kept waiting for more than three months.
The state expenditure for covering these pending applications is estimated at 300.7 million euros regarding main pensions and another €221.9 million for auxiliary ones, for a total of €522.6 million; almost €459 million of that concerns overdue debts to retirees.
Progress has been most evident in main pensions, as after the peak of 172,318 pending applications in September 2020, there was a constant reduction to 118,269 at end-2021.
