Lei Chan U advocates for a new mechanism to adjust pensions

Lawmaker Lei Chan U, representing the Macau Federation of Trade Unions (FAOM), has urged the government to amend the mechanism that adjusts elderly pensions based on the inflation rate.

In a written inquiry to the government submitted through the Legislative Assembly, the lawmaker said that several issues have been detected in the application of the current system, causing a loss of purchasing power and consequently creating additional difficulties for senior citizens who depend on such social support.

Lei noted that, according to the government’s evaluation, the cumulative Composite Consumer Price Index (CCPI) variation from the latest pension adjustment (in January 2020) to September 2024 was 2.47%. Since the adjustment mechanism is capped at a 3% variation condition, no pension adjustment has been enforced this year.

Such a factor has caused the pension amount to remain unchanged for nearly five years, which does not comply with the reality experienced by citizens, who have seen their expenses grow significantly over the same period, Lei said.

The matter has been raised on several occasions in the past, and the government has promised to study the proposals aired regarding the creation of an “Elderly CPI,” i.e., a different evaluation of the inflation rate that takes into account specific products and services required and more commonly used by seniors, while excluding others they do not use that contribute to the “wrong evaluation” of the current situation.

The lawmaker noted that despite the government’s response back in 2022 that it would take data samples from elderly households during the latest Census conducted by the Statistics and Census Service, no update on the status of this work has been provided so far.

Lei wants the new government to provide a clear update on this work as well as on the intentions aired by the Chief Executive, Sam Hou Fai, in his political platform, to link the pension fund with the Vitality Index.