Elderlies urges the government to increase their pension
A majority of retirees who draw their pensions on the basis of an old scheme that existed before 2010 are finding it difficult to make both ends meet. They say the pensions are too less because they are calculated according to their meager basic salaries, while demanding an imminent hike.
These retirees complain that the annual increase is just three per cent and with that they are unable to handle the inflationary pressures. “How does the government expect us to cope with increasing cost of living and other financial requirements for our families?” According to an official statistics in 2017, the number of retirees has risen to 60,000 from 41,000 in 2013, which is nothing but an increase of 19pc. The statistics shows that between 2013 and 2015, 5,000 retired were added to the pension list every year and in 2016 the number increased to 7,000. In Bahrain, the average retirement age in the public sector is 52 while for the private sector it is 46. Average pension of a public sector retiree stands at BD922 compared to BD639 for a private sector retiree.
Both the House of Representatives and Shura Council rejected a proposal in March 2016 to raise annual increase from the existing 3pc to 7pc after the General Organisation for Social Insurance (GOSI) warned it would burden the system by BD 5 million.
The Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Pension Funds managed by the GOSI has revealed that the income and expenditure data for the public and private pension funds indicate a huge deficit between returns and contributions.
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