Bulgaria will raise the minimum pensions in the country as of July 1, finance minister Simeon Dyankov said.
"Money is already present, so this year the minimum pensions will certainly increase," Dyankov said in an interview for the state-run Bulgarian National Television (BNT).
Bulgaria may further raise all pensions in the spring of 2013 if its economic growth exceeds the one projected in the state budget by at least 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) or if the country succeeds to sell some of its assets.
The finance minister outlined two options for increasing all pensions in the country next year. The first one will employ the so called Swiss rule indexation which measures the inflation rate and domestic growth of productivity to determine the size of the increase. Also, the government is considering a second hike of pensions which will not involve indexing.