Labour Minister: Form of proposed CZK 6,000 pension bonus under review

A proposed 6,000 crowns one-off contribution to pensioners may be distributed over many months or paid out by Christmas, Labour Minister Jana Maláčová (Social Democrats) said during a Czech TV debate programme this weekend.

Earlier, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (for ANO) had spoken of distributing the one-off contribution for pensioners in full already in August, or a permanent valorisation of 400 to 900 crowns.

Parliamentary budget committee deputy chairman Jan Skopeček of the opposition Civic Democrats characterised the move as pre-election pandering. As of the end of March, the average old-age pension stood at 14,397 crowns.