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Nearly 50,000 pensioners are expected to benefit from Government’s 2017 proposed increased in Old Age pension.
Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan noted that this latest intervention would mean that since coming to office a mere 18 months ago, this Government has increased assistance to the elderly by $5875 or 45 percent.
When the Coalition Government took office in May 2015, the Old Age Pension was $13,125. With the proposed 2017 increase, with effect from January 1; the amount will stand at $19,000.
| Year | Pension | PercentageIncrease | No. of Pensioners that benefitted | |
| From | To | |||
| 2015 | $13,125 | $17,000 | 30 percent | 42,397 |
| 2016 | $17,000 | $18,200 | 38.7 percent | 50,000 |
| 2017 | $18,200 | $19,000 | 4.9 percent | 50,000 |
In addition to the pension increase, in the 18 months the elderly have also benefitted from government’s exemption from paying travelling tax, when travelling overseas on a Guyanese passport.
They are also now exempted from paying for a driver’s licence. Further, Budget 2017 also provides for the elderly to be removed from paying passport fees. [GINA]
