Uzbekistan has raised the minimum consumer spending (MCS) for the year 2024 from UZS 568,000 ($46) to UZS 621,000 ($50.30), signifying a 9.3% increase. The report posted on January 20 on stat.uz shows that MCS serves as a crucial criterion in global practice for determining minimum pension amounts and allowances, particularly for providing material assistance to economically vulnerable families. Notably, certain existing pensions and allowances in Uzbekistan currently fall below this revised MCS threshold.
Economist Otabek Bakirov emphasized the need to align pensions and allowances with the updated MCS, on his telegram channel.
As of now, the minimum old-age pension in the country stands at UZS 608,000 ($49.24) per month. The economist further detailed specific allowances affected by this adjustment:
- Allowance for the legal representative of a child under 18 with a disability requiring care:UZS 608,000 ($49.24) per month.
- Allowance for one disabled family member of survivor's allowance recipients: UZS 608,000 ($49.24) per month, with an additional UZS 212,000 ($17.18) for each subsequent disabled family member.
- Minimum pension for one disabled family member of survivors' pension recipients: UZS 608,000 ($49.24) per month.
It's noteworthy that the previous minimum consumption expenses were increased from UZS 498,000 ($40.36) in 2022 to UZS 568,000 ($46.03) in July 2023. In 2021, the MCS indicator was set at UZS 440,000 ($35.66).
In his New Year greetings, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pledged an increase in wages, pensions, scholarships, and allowances for 2024. The law "On the state budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2024" earmarks UZS 9.5 trillion (around $770 mn) for additional expenditures related to this commitment, including the allocation of UZS 16 trillion (approximately $1.3 bn) to the Pension Fund in 2024.
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