Krajniak: Inflation Aid to Citizens in Need Should Reach €133 million
Bratislava, April 7 (TASR) – The state should provide inflation aid to Slovak citizens in material need totalling €133 million, Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Milan Krajniak (We Are Family) announced at a news conference on Thursday.
The aid should be paid out by the end of June.
“The assistance is divided between three groups of people. The first is aid for families in material need worth €5.8 million, then aid for families with children of €101.7 million and aid for low-income groups without children of €25.5 million,” said Krajniak.
The minister further stated that people in material need will receive an allowance of €100, adding that there are about 122,000 of them in almost 58,000 households. Parents of dependent children will be given a one-off increase in child allowance. It will affect about one million children under the age of 19, inclusive.
“Low-income jobseekers without children, recipients of a care allowance, people carrying out personal assistance to disabled persons and people of retirement age who are not entitled to a pension – in all these cases it would be a one-off allowance of €100,” added the labour minister.
Krajniak stressed that he personally and the ‘We Are Family’ party prefer higher taxes on tobacco, alcohol and gambling to fund the inflation aid. “The second option we can imagine, and which is acceptable to us, is to tie the investments we have in the state budget for this year, namely by the mentioned total amount, until it turns out that tax revenues will allow us in the second half of 2022 to loosen their binding, “added Krajniak.
The help proposed by the Government related to the drastic price hikes is absolutely insufficient, spokeswoman for the opposition Voice-SD party Patricia Medved Macikova said in response to the so-called inflation aid presented by Labour Minister Milan Krajniak (We Are Family) on Thursday.
“A €100 one-time allowance for a few selected groups in the population may be an April Fools’ Day prank but it’s definitely not a solution for Slovakia,” said Voice-SD leader Peter Pellegrini, adding that a one-off contribution of €100 after three and a half months of Government’s complete inactivity is irrefutable proof of its inability to help its own citizens.
“If, according to the Government, the amount of €100 paid after six months of radical rise in prices is to make up for the increased costs of pensioners, families with children and the unemployed, then the Slovak Government lives on a different planet. Some food prices have risen by tens of percent, energy and housing costs are growing in an unprecedented manner and the rising inflation is consuming people’s lifetime savings. And this should be solved by one €100 banknote?” asked Pellegrini.
