Strange Indexing

The Ministry of Finance plans to index pensions and social benefits in connection with the decision of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) on the transition to a floating exchange rate of the manat on 21 December 2015.

This will be done "if the decision of CBA has a negative impact on the consumer market and in accordance with the level of inflation", a source in the ministry commented for Turan.

Yesterday this same point of view in an interview with local reporters was expressed by the Chairman of the State Social Protection Fund (SSPF) Elman Mehdiyev. Next year, he said, according to the tradition, indexation of the insurance part of pensions and pension capital accumulated on individual accounts will be carried out in accordance with the inflation rate for the year.

Recall, on December 21 the exchange rate of the manat to the US dollar fell by approximately 47.7%, pulling on the prices in the wholesale and retail trade. The consumer price index at the end of 2015 will change according to the expectations of the government, by about 4%. Consequently, the compensation will touch the tenth part of the financial losses of the population.

In January-September, the number of persons receiving labor pension in Azerbaijan increased by 0.1%, amounting to 1,292,591. The average retirement pension by 1 October was 175.8 manats. --- 17D-