The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity has raised the minimum State pension by 3.2 percent, or by 11 marks (some € 5), at its Friday emergency session. This means that the lowest monthly pension now amounts to 359 marks (approx. €183).

The FBiH government adopted this decision after the entity Pension and Disability Insurance (PIO) proposed that pensions could be raised since economic conditions and the GDP in this entity have improved.

When asked if 11 marks were enough to survive on, the FBiH Prime Minister, Fadil Novalic, said that last year alone, his government had raised pensions by 44 marks (some € 22).

“When we first took office in 2015, the minimum pension was 326 marks (some € 162). We had a budget deficit and pensions were late for 45 days in some cases, but we overcame that,” Novalic said. “Eleven marks is not enough, but last year alone we raised pensions by 11 marks – twice in a row, and we plan to do the same this year. That’s 44 marks (approx. € 22).”

He said that the government’s aim for the next four years is to raise the minimum State pension to 400 marks (around € 200), considering that 40 percent of all pensioners in this entity receive the minimum  State pension.