Labour and Welfare Minister Jovanka Trencevska said that the payment of retirement incomes will continue and is safe and secure, even in the midst of a major crisis.

Trencevska convened a meeting of the board monitoring the stability of the retirement system, which concluded that the PIOM retirement fund has reserves of 1.3 billion denars (21.3 million EUR). This will need to be sufficient for the planned increase in pensions.

Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Bytiqi added that the Government will have to decide what to do with the growing demands from retirees that their pensions are increased along with the recent hike in the minimum wage. This populist move led to a chorus of calls for pay increases from various interest groups in the public sector.