8.2 million retirees from enterprises and government institutions in Jiangsu will be entitled to the country’s latest increase in basic pension payments for retirees, which is the 14th year of increase.
From the beginning of this year, the average monthly payment for pensioners of enterprises, government agencies and public institutions has been lifted by 5 percent from the 2017 level, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in a statement Friday.
The increase, set to benefit 114 million retirees across China, was lower than the 5.5-percent pension rise last year.
This year’s lift was also slower than the 6.5-percent rise in 2016, which is attributed to moderating economic growth and a rapidly aging society by authorities.
The 5-percent increase this year is reasonable given a less anticipated consumer price index as well as slower salary and GDP growth, insiders say.
While an aging society has put increasing pressure on pensions, China has raised pensions for 14 years in a row.
The 5-percent increase in pensions outpaces the 1.6-percent growth in the consumer price index.
The rise in the basic pension payments will be finalized by the end of July, sources said.
China has improved basic pension for enterprise retirees for 13 consecutive years by at least 10 percent annually between 2005 and 2015 before the pace decelerated in 2016.
The 10-percent lift pace was thanks to low pension levels in previous years and the country’s rapid economic growth and the growth rate of the basic pension should be above that of CPI but should not surpass that of salary for the long run.
Starting from the beginning of 2016, China raised the old-age pension by 6.5 percent from 2015, the 12th straight year of pension raise.
In April 2017, the central government has approved the average monthly payments for both enterprise and institution retirees to be increased by about 5.5 percent from the 2016 level.
The monthly pension level has increased from about 640 yuan per capita in 2005 to 2,400 yuan in 2016.
(Source: ourjiangsu.com)
