Finance Minister Sinisa Mali announced that the payment of the entire March pension, which will be increased by one-time assistance in the amount of 35 euros, will start on April 10th.
“The decision was made that the March pension would not be paid in two installments, but in one installment, together with the promised assistance,” Mali said.
Mali also said that in extraordinary circumstances the republican budget was given a new role.
“The most important task of the budget during a pandemic caused by a virus is to finance the costs of fighting for the lives and health of Serbian citizens today, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”
The Minister reminded that all bureaucratic conditions were also provided for pensions to arrive at home on time.
He added that those who receive retirement checks through current accounts will receive pensions tomorrow, when the payment will start at home addresses, which will last for the next few days.
“In addition to calling the bank on the phone and asking for your pension to be brought to your home address, there is also the possibility of authorizing someone to raise your pension. The authorization can be written in free form and no certification is required from the notary public,” the minister explained.
Mali pointed out that the pensioners had already settled and that their sons, daughters or close and distant relatives were taking over their responsibilities from the banks.
According to him, there are also volunteer services in municipalities that are also in service to the oldest.
He reminded that pensions were increased by 5.4 percent at the beginning of this year, and previously the pensioners received a one-off sum of 5,000 dinars in November last year, so that new aid would be paid in the first half of this year.
“This measure in no way threatens Serbia’s fiscal and macroeconomic stability,” Mali said.
He stressed that Serbia is “a financially stable and economically strong country, even in a pandemic”.
“The government has certainly had to divert and allocate additional funds from the budget for the implementation of public health measures, and the implementation of economic measures to mitigate the consequences in the economy will start soon,” the finance minister said.
According to him, what Serbia is doing is not working outside the world, but other countries are doing it to preserve the population and support the domestic economy.
“If there are increased costs, deficits or public debt, it will not be to the extent that it threatens the fiscal stability of the country. Serbia has healthy finances and they are able to withstand that burden,” Mali said, Novi Magazin reports.
