Labor and Social Insurance Minister Andreas Loverdos yesterday welcomed comments by a European Commission spokesman clarifying that Greek press reports suggesting that pensions will be slashed by half had been based on “a misunderstanding”.
Loverdos was responding to a letter sent to a Greek newspaper by Amadeu Altafaj, the spokesman for European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, stressing that nothing in an agreement signed between the Greek government and the European Commission (EC), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Central Bank (ECB) calls for the cutting of pensions by half. In his letter, published in To Vima yesterday, Altafaj explained that the size of Greek pensions will range from 65 percent to 80 percent of a person’s salary for all but the very highest income groups.
The EU official explained that the 45 percent or 48 percent figure quoted in Greek press represented only the “contribution-based” part of the pension. Each pensioner would then also receive the basic “welfare” pension not based on contributions, bringing the total to between 65 and 80 percent of the working salary, he said.
