Main opposition New Democracy (ND) party this week again stepped up its pressure against the embattled leftist-rightist coalition government, touching on a particularly sensitive topic, namely, what it called continued cuts in social security benefits and welfare bonuses in 2018 and 2019 on the heels of previous reductions over the past two years.
According to the center-right political party, a Greek pensioner that received 842.5 euros per month in 2014 saw the figure drop to 785 euros in 2017, and will see an even further reduction in 2018 and 2019, with the monthly payment falling to 705 and 670 euros, respectively. ND pointed to the complete elimination of a monthly bonus (EKAS) for low-income pensioners as the primary reason for the cuts, as it claimed.
The main opposition charged that pensioners who received a monthly benefit of below 670 euros in 2014 are in an even worse situation, with a beneficiary in Athens who received 580 euros per month in 2014 now seeing a paycheck of 480 euros – a reduction of 17 percent, ND claimed.
