No pension indexation after devaluation

The government will not index pensions after the devaluation of the Belarusian ruble.

The statement was made by deputy minister of labour and social protection Valery Kavalkou during a call-in session on January 15.

A TUT.by journalist made a phone call as an ordinary citizen and asked if pensions would be indexed due to the fall of the Belarusian ruble.

Valery Kavalkou says pensions are paid from contributions that people pay from their salaries to the Social Protection Fund. Salaries have not been adjusted to the ruble rate, so contributions to the fund have not risen either,” the deputy minister said.

There are also no grounds to index pensions due to the growth of average salaries in the country. Pensions can be raised if salaries have grown by more than 15% in the previous quarter of the year.

“Unfortunately, they haven't grown,” Valery Kavalkou said.

The National Bank imposed a 30% duty on the purchase of foreign currency on December 20, 2014. The duty was supposed to remain in force until February 1, but was lifted on January 8. The Belarusian ruble began to fall on December 20. As of today, the national currency has dropped against the dollar by 37.3%.