site.btaUPDATED Joint Governance Council Proposes Christmas Supplement of BGN 120 for Pensioners Living Below Poverty Line

The Joint Governance Council is proposing that pensioners living below the poverty line receive a Christmas supplement of BGN 120, GERB-UDF Deputy Floor Leader Denitsa Sacheva said after a Council meeting held during the parliamentary sitting break on Thursday. She added that the measure would apply to 536,000 pensioners whose monthly income is below this year’s poverty line of BGN 638. Sacheva said that the government will be informed of this decision, adding that some BGN 64 million will be required. 

"We will inform the Cabinet so that it can be discussed at a Council of Ministers meeting and the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) can take the necessary steps to ensure that the supplements are paid along with the December pensions before Christmas, if possible," Sacheva added.

She noted that the NSSI has already made the necessary estimates and that funds are available to cover the supplement. In her words, the target has been overshot and additional reserves are available. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms - New Beginning announced that it would make donations to the NSSI budget, she added.

Sacheva added that efforts to find a long-term solution for such payments in the coming years have not been abandoned. "This debate happens every year. Christmas supplements are something the poorest people in Bulgaria deserve," she said.

Speaking in Parliament's lobby earlier in the day, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that GERB will propose a BGN 120 Christmas supplement for pensioners living below the poverty line.