Average pension increase to fail to cover rising living costs

The average Czech retirement pension is set in for a slight increase in January which will fall short of covering the rising cost of living, the news website novinky.cz reported on Wednesday. The average monthly pension of just over 10,700 crowns, or less than 570 US dollars, will rise by 137 crowns. However, this will not cover the inflation rate of 2.7 percent along with a one-percent rise in VAT. The centre-right government this year froze pension increases which are otherwise by law set to cover a 2-percent or higher rise in inflation and real wages.