Average monthly pension increases by 8.4 pct
By Sara Israfilbayova
The average monthly pension in Azerbaijan as of October 1, 2018 increased by 8.4 percent compared to the same period of 2017, reaching 221.1 manats ($130).
The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population of Azerbaijan reported that the average monthly old-age pension increased by nine percent to 249.1 manats ($146) over the same period.
Funds allocated for pensions were 7.6 percent or 186.9 million manats ($109) more than in the first nine months of 2017.
There are over 1.3 million people of retirement age in Azerbaijan, which is 13.2 percent of the total population of the country. Some 58.5 percent of pensioners receive an old-age pension, 11.5 percent - a pension due to the loss of a family member, and the rest - a disability pension.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on May 2, 2017 approved amendments to the law “On Labor Pensions”.
The amendments provide for the elimination of the concept of the basic part of the labor pension and the 12-year service required for the appointment of a pension, as well as the gradual increase in the retirement age for women and men up to 65 years.
The retirement age will increase every six months until 2021 for men, until 2027 for women. In view of the elimination of the concept of “basic part of the pension”, the law introduces the concept of “minimum pension”. The size of the minimum pension from January 1, 2017 is 110 manats ($64.7).
Another change is connected with the compulsory social insurance. So, now 90 percent of the deductions paid by employee on compulsory state social insurance will be reflected in his/her account.
Deductions are formed from two sources: the deductions made by the employer in the amount of 22 percent of the salary fund of the enterprise, and the deductions worth 3 percent of the employee’s wage. Formerly, only 50 percent of these deductions were reflected in employee’s account.
---
Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz