It’s ridiculous to suggest that multiple pensions will be replaced by lump sums, said Finance Minister Makis Keravnos this morning, hitting back after party criticisms directed at the Government.
According to him, if the actuary had been allowed to present its study during the first meeting between the ministry and the parties, it would have been clear that there was no issue with multiple gratuities.
During yesterday’s meeting, which involved only DISY and the Greens, the fiscal study provided to the parties demonstrated significant savings resulting from the implementation of government bills.
“Of course, the primary goal is not to achieve savings but rather to stop the issue of multiple pensions, which is causing societal problems,” he added.
Keravnos, commenting on the issue of terminating multiple pensions for current state pensioners, stated that the questions have been answered by the Legal Service.
“As the Ministry of Finance, we have an obligation to act within the framework set by our legal advisors,” he emphasised.
He also said that the parties were timely informed about yesterday’s meeting and the responses provided by the Legal Service to the questions raised by the parties.
“I expect the Government’s views to undergo a productive discussion to resolve the issue,” he noted.
He reiterated that the Government is the only one that took the initiative to prepare specific proposals to resolve the issue of multiple pensions, which has been ongoing for 43 years since 1980 when some proposals were submitted to Parliament.
Additionally, he said that the ministry’s proposals underwent legislative scrutiny by the Legal Service and were guided by the legal advisor of the Republic of Cyprus, who, based on the Constitution, is the Attorney General.
“Therefore, this was done to ensure that the proposals we submit do not face the same fate as party and MP proposals, which later, after much debate, were deemed unconstitutional,” he concluded.
