In the month of May, the Pension benefits rise 11% thanks to INDEC inflation data March, as established by DNU 274/2024, but the actual increase will depend on 2 key variables: 82% of the minimum wage, Vital e Móvil (SMVM), which fixes the income of pensioners with the minimum with 30 or more years of contributions without resorting to moratoriums and the value and scope of the bonus who earn the lowest salaries.
We enter the second fortnight of the month and the Government not called yet to the SMVM Council (it should have been convened in April) e remains to be defined whether the $70,000 bonus will be maintained and at what value, so it is not possible to calculate the increase for different groups of retirees and retirees. .
With the 11% increase in May, pensioners and retirees benefited fully from the increases (27.18% in March, 27.4% in April and 11% in May) They will accumulate an increase of 79.85% in 5 months.
Who received the bonuses, and if the bonus also received the 11% increase – about 5 million – the increase in May would be 66.6%. This is because the minimum asset in May would be $190,124 plus $77,700 bonus ($70,000 + 11%) for a total of $267,824 versus $160,712 in December 2023.
If the bonus remained at $70,000, the actual increase would not be 11% but 7.8%, and the cumulative increase through May would be 61.9%.
For those who, in addition to the bonus, are entitled to 82% of the SMVM, the calculation is uncertain because it will depend on whether the minimum wage will increase in May. In April they charge 2.11% more than in March.
National teachers and retired university teachers They have no increase in April and not even in May because they are regulated by a special regime with quarterly increases, in March, June, September and December.
In March inflation was at 51.6%. With 10.8% in April and 9% in May (estimate from the REM – Survey of Market Expectations of the Central Bank), Inflation in May would be 83.1%.
Consequently, with the new scheme, starting from May and with the different levels, retirements – with greater emphasis on the lowest wages – will continue to lose several points in relation to inflation, above the strong loss they had during the governments of Mauricio Macri and Alberto. Fernandez.
In June pensions will be adjusted to April inflation (estimated by the REM at 10.8%), and at that moment they will be compared with the result produced by the previous Government’s formula (salaries plus collection) and with the greatest increase. It is assumed that due to the recession and the decline in wages the increase due to inflation in the months of April, May and June will be greater.
Then the AF formula will cease to exist and from July the increase will depend on the inflation of the previous 2 months. (in July it is adjusted to the May CPI).
According to Jorge Colina, of the IDESA consultancy firm, in relation to DNU 274/2024, “the legal objection is that Justice has already said this several times The mobility formula will have to be sanctioned by Congress. The Executive will be able to make advances in the months of April, May and June – even with a simple decree – but the new formula that will be applied starting from July will have to be established by law. “Justice will have the last word”
And he adds: “from the point of view of pensioners, the adjustment to inflation stops the real deterioration of pensions, but perpetuates their liquefaction. That is, unless extraordinary pension increases occur in the future, the real value of pensions will be liquefied 10% below the 2023 average.”
Between September 2017 and December 2023, retirements (without bonuses) decreased by 55.4% and, due to bonuses, minimum wages decreased by 26.2%.
Source: Clarin
