Pensioners should not be concerned, North Macedonia's PM says

The pension system of North Macedonia is stable and secure, and pensioners should not be concerned. The age limit will not be increased for the time being, said Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.

PM Mickoski told reporters that financial stability is not ensured by stripping citizens' rights but by detecting funds that are misused and their reallocation for the real needs, CE Report quotes MIA.

"The social protection system is an example of this, where phantom beneficiaries or ones that are not eligible are abusing the system, with numbers reaching Mden 1-1.5 billion," said Mickoski.

Regarding the criticism by the Fiscal Council that the linear increase of the pensions resulted in an additional deficit in the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund, the PM said every political decision has positive and negative sides, "but the benefits are far greater in this case."

"The Government bears the responsibility for its policies. We opted for a linear increase of pensions, which represented an added burden to the budget but contributed to reducing poverty in the country on the other. We led the region in poverty indicators, and now this has changed. This Government has increased pensions more than any other executive on record," said Mickoski.

He noted that long-term results of the second pension pillar were not taken into consideration when it had been set up, while adding, "the system is solvent despite these challenges."

According to him, there are currently about 709,000 employed persons in the country, with 800,000 required for optimal economic development.

"That is why we made changes to the Law on Labor Relations so that people who feel capable of extending their career can work up until 67, 68 and even 70 years of age through annual extension of their job contracts," said Mickoski.

Photo: Pexels (Free Stock Photos)