Handouts for more retirees
The government has definitively decided to offer a handout to at least 140,000 pensioners who did not receive an increase or any other additional benefit recently.
It concerns pensioners with the so-called “personal difference” – i.e. those who get a higher pension than others and were excluded from the hikes applying since January 1 – or who received a significantly lower increase than the average 7.75% rate.
The number of final beneficiaries will also determine the amount of the benefit, with the most likely scenario being an allowance ranging between 250 and 300 euros.
In total, there were 910,000 pensioners who, due to the existence of a personal difference in their main pensions, did not receive any increase in 2023. Of these, 140,000 did not even receive the €250 allowance (“inflation check”) handed out over Christmas – apparently because they had pensions and incomes of more than 800 euros – nor an increase from the abolition of the solidarity tax. In practice, this concerns pensioners with pension incomes between €800 and €1,000.
They may well not be the only ones to get it either. Kathimerini understands that the list of recipients will be finalized by February 20, determining whether it should be expanded further and, if so, who else it will concern.
