EFKA draft budget for next year provides for a surplus of 245 mln

The Single Social Security Entity’s (EFKA) draft budget for next year, to be discussed at the board meeting, provides for a significant surplus of 245.6 million euros.

Of course the 2019 budget had also originally provided for a surplus of 104.74 million euros, but this was reduced to just 8.08 million euros after a total of seven modifications. Last year the EFKA surplus came to 959.86 million euros, but this figure seems like a distant dream now, worrying social security experts.

Concerns are growing as there is no provision in the state budget passed through Parliament last night for covering the impact from the recent Council of State decisions on payments to pensioners that the Labor Ministry must comply with.

According to the draft EFKA budget that Kathimerini has seen, in 2020 there will be an increase in revenues from contributions as well as a reduction in expenditure, primarily on main pensions, along with a reduction of state funding.

Revenues from social security contributions are estimated at 10.29 billion euros, up from 9.8 billion this year (per the modified estimate), not including the effects of the planned changes to the calculation system and for 1.4 million freelance and self-employed professionals, or the impact from the reduction of contributions by employers and employees, planned for the second half of next year.

EFKA’s total revenues, taking into account the 481-million-euro reduction in state funding (from 14.90 billion euros in 2019 to 14.42 billion in 2020), are projected to come to 38.85 billion, compared with 39.45 billion in 2019 and 38.75 billion in 2018. Pension expenditure is estimated at 26.39 billion, down from 26.53 billion euros this year and up from 26.01 billion in 2018.