Spanish public pensions will increase by 8.5% in 2023, according to the State budget plan for next year approved on Tuesday and advanced by the Minister of Finance and Public Function, María Jesús Montero.
The increase, on average, will be equivalent to almost 100 euros more per month for the more than nine million recipients of Social Security benefits.
The percentage of 8.5% is not final, but the estimate as of today. It could still vary, depending on the results of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) at the end of the year. The final percentage will be known when the November inflation results are published.
However, Minister Montero clarified that "the forecast we have today about how this indicator is going to behave is 8.5%. Around 8.5%. It could be 8.4% or 8.6%.”
The minister made it clear that the percentage increase will be for all public payments, whether they are contributory or non-contributory.
The government thus intends to fulfill its objective of ensuring that pensioners can maintain their purchasing power, despite runaway inflation. And that it will ignore the opposition parties and other critical voices, including organizations such as the ECB, the IMF or the Bank of Spain that recommended not updating pensions according to the CPI.
