Living and subsistence minimum benefits to increase by five to six percent next year

The living and subsistence minimum benefits in Czechia will increase by five to six percent from January, Labour Minister Marian Jurečka said on Czech Television on Sunday. The ministry plans to determine the exact figure based on the Czech Statistical Office's data on inflation for October. The living and subsistence minimum is the socially recognised minimum level of income for food and other basic needs required for survival. Minister Jurečka further urged Czechs who are having problems making ends meet due to the energy crunch and soaring inflation not to be ashamed to ask for government aid. He said the state expected to collect CZK 70 to 100 billion in taxes on windfall profits and levies on electricity production, which it wants to use to help the socially weaker groups of the population survive the energy crunch.