The Government has published in the Official Journal a new decree (N°282/2024) which provides for the minimum retirement, modifying last Thursday’s decree (N°268/2024). raising the minimum income ceiling from $204,445.30 to $241,283.31: an increase of 18%.
Therefore, in April the minimum asset will rise from $134,445.30 to $171,283.31, an increase of 27.4%. Maintaining the $70,000 bonus payment, total income will be $241,283.31, up from $204,445.30 in March.
Since the bonus is not increased, the effective pocket increases for the minimum pension in the end it will be 18% and not 27.4%, as Clarín anticipated in the Sunday 24 March edition. 5 million people out of a total of 7.4 million receive the minimum wage.
The new decree clarifies that for those who collect “an amount greater than $171,283.31, the pension financial assistance (of $70,000) will be equal to the amount needed until the limit of $241,283.31 is reached.” This means that, for example, those earning $200,000 in April with a 27.4% increase, The bonus will be $41,283.
If, however, the 27.4% increase also applied to the bonus, the new limit would have to be $89,173, bringing the total income to $260,456, i.e. $171,283 plus $89,173.
In relation to December, the cumulative increase in income from minimum assets included The bonus until April would be 50% ($241,283 versus $160,713) against inflation of around 70%. (36.6% January-February plus 13% estimated in March plus 10% in April). And compared to April 2023, the minimum bond amount would rise to 227%, also lower than next month’s year-on-year inflation, which could be around 300%.
The new decree does not specify what will happen to the bonus in May and June, whether it will remain at $70,000 or whether it will receive increases like the rest of the assets.
The increase in the limit, with the new decree, affects public accounts (compared to maintaining the limit at 204,445 dollars) because it affects 5 million people, to which is added the 27.4% increase for the rest of retirements.
With the new ceiling of $241,283.31, the new minimum asset values in April will be as follows:
- Minimum retirement: $171,283.31 + $70,000, added together gives $241,283.31, 18% more than March’s $204,445.30.
- PUAM: have a minimum of $137,026.65 + $70,000: $207,026.65
- Non-contributory pensions: $119,898.31 + $70,000: $189,898.31.
Instead of integrating the bonus into current activities, with this new ceiling the Government would try to gradually liquefy the weight of the minimum income in the total income of pensioners and pensions who receive that additional amount. And, on the other hand, this would reduce the flattening of the pension pyramid that has occurred due to the appearance of bonuses and differential increases between the minimum assets and the rest.
According to DNU 274, premiering in April, assets will receive February inflation (13.2%) plus a 12.5% boost (+27.4%), and in May they will receive the March inflation. In June they will receive the April CPI and if the cumulative increase is lower than the one resulting from the current formula, the difference will be compensated. If it is greater, the difference is not deducted.
Then in July you will pay the change in the CPI for May and in August the inflation index for June and so on. There will be no increases if real wages improve or if the economy grows. As a result, going forward, there is no expected recovery of assets in relation to the loss of the last 7 years.
SN
Source: Clarin
