Opposition calls for pensioners to receive lump sum, government dismisses idea as populist

The opposition Social Democrats are calling for pensioners to be given each a one-off lump sum of 6,000 CZK (around 360 USD), to offset the impact of this year’s public finance reforms upon their pensions. The idea has been dismissed by the Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas, however, as pure populism. The government is considering raising pensions by 465 crowns (28 USD) a month from August onwards.

As a knock-on effect of the government’s public reform package, prices rose by 7.5 percent on average in the Czech Republic at the beginning of 2008, this rise is the highest recorded at any time over the last ten years. The current average pension in the Czech Republic is 9111 CZK (550 USD) a month.