83% of pensioners to receive 5,00-peso payment in August

The government announced Tuesday that it would make a one-off payment of 5,000 pesos to more than six million retirees and pensioners in August, in order to compensate for the loss of purchasing power as a result of surging inflation.

The bonus will only be given to retirees who have an income lower than two minimum wages, or just over 46,000 pesos, reaching in total 83 percent of retirees and pensioners, said the government. 

The news was delivered by the head of the ANSES social security agency, Fernanda Raverta at a ceremony in Lomas de Zamora, who spoke before President Alberto Fernández. Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof, PAMI chief Luana Volnovich and Mayor Martín Insaurralde were also in attendance.

Raverta said the additional payment provided ”the certainty of a dignified retirement,” observing that since the government had taken office, a pensioner’s minimum income had risen from 14,000 to 28,000 pesos. 

Pensions were also topped up with two 1,500-peso payments in April and May. An additional "mobility" bonus will also be granted in September.

Consumer prices have risen by 48.8 percent over the last 12 months, according to the INDEC national statistics bureau, which is due to report June’s data on Thursday. Inflation in the first first months of the year totalled 21.5 percent, according to government data.

– TIMES/PERFIL