The government announced Monday that a string of pensions and allowances such the pension for senior citizens paid by the Social Security Fund (FSS) will be increased up to 5.5 percent.
According to an order signed by Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On, which was published in Monday’s Official Gazette (BO), the increased pay-outs will take effect on July 1.
The fund covers a raft of pensions and allowances including pensions for senior citizens, allowances for the disabled, and an allowance for the unemployed, as well as wedding, funeral and birth allowances.
The government will increase the pension for senior citizens aged 65 or above to 3,350 patacas a month. Currently, it stands at 3,180 patacas a month, giving an increase of 5.3 percent. The allowance for the disabled will be increased to 3,350 patacas a month, up 5.3 percent from the current 3,180 patacas.
The jobless allowance will be raised from the current 127 patacas per day to 134 per day, an increase of 5.5 percent.
The government last raised the pensions and allowances in June last year and backdated the increases to January while the pension for senior citizens was increased to the current 3,180 from the then 3,000 patacas per month, a six percent increase.
Permanent residents’ sickness allowance will be raised to 101 patacas a day without the need to be admitted to hospital and 134 patacas a day if hospitalisation is required; the birth and wedding allowances will be raised to 1,900 patacas each, while the funeral allowance will be increased to 2,460 patacas.
FSS President Ip Peng Kin said last month that as the city’s gaming receipts are declining he expected that the fund’s payments from the government will amount to about 4.8 billion this year, 64 percent of last year’s 7.5 billion patacas, or down 36 percent year-on-year.
The fund’s financial support mainly comes from dues paid by the city’s employees and their employers, as well as one percent of the government’s regular annual receipts and 75 percent of the three percent of casinos’ gross gaming receipts for public infrastructure projects, the promotion of culture and tourism, as well as the FSS.(macaunews/macaupost)
