As from next Saturday, around 44,500 pensioners will benefit from improved payments from another two social measures; the Senior Citizen Grant and the Bonus given to those persons who did not pay enough social contributions to benefit from pensions.

Minister Michael Falzon announced these details along with Permanent Secretary Mark Musu.

Minister Falzon said that the Senior Citizens Grant will be given to persons who are still living in the community and are aged 75 years and over.

He added that, through a change introduced last year, this grant will also be given to those persons living in a private elderly residence and are paying for the service from their own pocket.

With this grant, persons aged between 75 and 79 years will receive €300, while those aged over 80 years will receive €350.

The Minister also announced that there will be an increase in the bonus given to those who have reached retirement age but who do not have enough contributions to qualify for a pension.

As from next Saturday, this bonus will see a rise of €50 to reach €250, if these persons would have paid from one year to four years of contributions, and €350 to those who have paid five years or more in contributions.

Permanent Secretary Mark Musu explained how 33,732 beneficiaries who are 75 years of age will benefit from the Senior Citizen Grant. Expenditure on this grant will reach €11,004,103.

14,907 persons will benefit from the bonus for those who paid contributions but are not eligible for a pension, with expenditure reaching €4,296,779.

Among these, there are 3,302 persons who are aged 75 years and over who will receive this bonus and the Senior Citizen Grant, thanks to a social measure which was introduced in 2019.

It was explained that all those persons that will reach eligible age after January 1st will receive the benefit or the increase pro-rata this year, and will start receiving the full benefit as from next year.

Photo by Alain Salvary

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