Photo: stoxos.gr
After the pensions and salaries of ordinary citizens in Greece have declined dramatically, the government has decided to disclose how much the pensions of deputies have dropped.
In an attempt to regain the lost positions in the public domain, the government has announced that retired prime ministers receive 54.7% less than they did in 2009. The only retired prime ministers of Greece, who are still living, are Costas Simitis from PASOK and Konstantinos Mitsotakis from New Democracy.
Before the crisis, their monthly pension was 4,697.48 euro but now, it has fallen to 2,561.26 euro. Although a monthly income higher than 2,500 euro is now considered a luxury in Greece, it is interesting to note that the prime minister's pension is far from being the highest one. According to the data of the Labour Institute of the General Confederation of Workers in Greece, the highest pension can reach 3,680 euro whereas the lowest social pension is currently 360 euro.
The pensions of deputies have been also affected. According to the Ministry of Finance, from February 2013 onwards, a retired deputy receives 1,975.96 euro. The same pension was 3,866 euro in 2009, which means that the former elected representatives have lost 51.1% of their monthly income.
If the pensioner-deputy works in the wider public sector, his deputy pension will be reduced by 70% until he is released or leaves his post. If a retired deputy is re-elected, the payment of his pension will be frozen until the end of his term.
"The pensions of deputies have been reduced from 2010 onwards based on what is applicable to all other pensions in the public sector. In particular, the reductions of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% (depending on the size or the amount of pensions) have already been applied to deputies’ pensions from February 2013 as valid for the whole public sector", reads the announcement of the Ministry of Finance.