The National Assembly amended the act in April to raise the basic welfare allowance from EUR 297 to EUR 385 between June and the end of the year. But the changes envisaged that the allowance would be scaled back to the government's proposal of EUR 331 as of 1 January.
The drop after New Year would actually be even bigger, as the basic welfare allowance rose to EUR 393 due to the regular annual adjustment on 1 August. Income support rose to EUR 577.
In order to avoid cuts, the government will have to secure an additional EUR 39.2m for social transfers in the budget for 2019, government documents show.
However, the cabinet expects this year's social transfers spending to be lower than the expected EUR 284m. It is estimated to reach some EUR 269m.
Currently, the government almost EUR 7.8m short for social transfers for this year. "These funds will be secured through rearrangement of funds within the budget of the Ministry of Labour, the Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities," the government said.
