site.btaGERB Proposes BGN 120 Christmas Supplement for Pensioners Below Poverty Line

GERB leader Boyko Borissov will propose a BGN 120 Christmas supplement for pensioners living below the poverty line of BGN 638 per month. The funds will be found in the state budget, he said after discussing the matter with other party leaders in the presence of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov on Thursday morning.

Borissov expects the Joint Governance Council of GERB-UDF coalition partners BSP-United Left and There Is Such a People to improve its performance. 

MRF-New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski, who backs the government, called for a Christmas supplement of BGN 110 for pensioners.

In mid-November, GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Denitsa Sacheva said Christmas supplements for pensioners were not planned this year due to the budget's very limited capacity. On November 18, the Labour and Social Policy Committee chaired by Sacheva gave the Social Policy Minister until December 20 to propose legislative amendments establishing Christmas and Easter support for the most vulnerable groups, including pensioners, single parents, large families and socially disadvantaged individuals living alone.