The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, wanted to convey this Thursday a message of “tranquility” to pensioners, assuring that the public pension system is “sustainable” and that the Executive's intention is to proceed with its revaluation before the end of the year, although he did not specify whether that movement would be approved before or after the November 29 elections.
“Our intention, of course, is for the revaluation of pensions to be approved before the end of the year,” Pedro Sánchez said in statements to the press upon his arrival at the meeting of European Union (EU) leaders in Brussels, after recalling that this update is contemplated in the law and was agreed with the European Commission.
Criticism of the PP and Vox for the debate on pensions
The head of the Executive expressed his “perplexity” at the statements of spokespersons for the Popular Party (PP) and Vox, whom he accused of saying “openly” that they would cut pensions, of maintaining that the distribution system is “about to collapse” or of asking them to keep quiet until after the elections.
“The plan of both the right and the far-right is to lie to pensioners until November 29 and then, if the numbers add up and they can govern, cut pensioners' retirement,” denounced Sánchez, who is also the PSOE candidate for the Presidency of the Government.
In that context, he reiterated that he wants to send “to pensioners of today and tomorrow” a message of “absolute tranquility”, because, as he affirmed, “the public pension system is a sustainable system.”
Revaluation according to CPI and more than 20,000 million in the piggy bank
Pedro Sánchez has also insisted that the Government will revalue pensions in accordance with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and has stressed that the Executive will close the legislature “with more than 20,000 million euros in the pension piggy bank”, compared to the 5,000 million that existed in 2018, when Mariano Rajoy was in power.
The president has also highlighted measures such as the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Wage (SMI) and the labor reform, considering that both will contribute to guaranteeing the sustainability of the system.
“In the end, what we are talking about is more dignified contracts, more dignified salaries, and therefore the debate should be there, it should not be about cutting pensions as the Popular Party and Vox want,” Pedro Sánchez criticized, in a speech in which he tried to place the discussion in the field of employment and wages.