Benefit. Around 800,000 pensioners who due to having a higher salary than others received too small an increase or none at all this year will be the beneficiaries of the one-off ‘personal difference’ allowance granted before Easter. The measure, to cost 300 million euros, will likely be announced by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday.
Despite the visible risk of thousands of pensioners being trapped in debt and left without a pension, the provision of Law 5078, which was passed in 2023 and allows for the possibility of receiving a pension, but under strict conditions, such as the lifting of banking secrecy, is faring poorly.
Although the initial assessment of the Ministry of Labor, before the law was passed, was that thousands of prospective pensioners would rush to join the new framework, official data shows limited participation.
Kathimerini understands that, so far, only 7,738 requests for inclusion in the regulation have been submitted. Of these, 4,157 were approved, 1,967 are pending and 1,614 were rejected.
The data highlight the reluctance of many debtors to accept the terms of the arrangement, but they also illustrate a very important problem looming ahead: the creation of a generation of unemployed people, drowning in debt, who will not be able to receive a pension.
Consent to the lifting of banking secrecy is a prerequisite for joining the arrangement. The insured person gives approval electronically when submitting the retirement application.
Through this procedure, EFKA checks the amount of the candidate pensioner’s deposits in order to certify their real ability to repay. If their deposits exceed €12,000, the right to a pension is automatically lost.
There are other conditions, too.
More specifically, the law stipulates that the total amount of debts must not exceed €30,000 (or €10,000 for farmers).
In case of higher debts, a lump sum repayment of the excess amount is required within two months.