The amendment to the State Budget proposal for 2026 (OE2026) was approved with votes in favor from PSD, CDS-PP, Chega, and PAN, a vote against from IL, and abstentions from PS, Livre, PCP, and BE.
With the approval, the Government is now committed to providing an extraordinary pension supplement next year, depending on the evolution of budget execution and the respective trends in terms of revenue and expenses.
In explaining the proposal, the parties supporting the government led by Luís Montenegro argue that it is necessary to give “the Government leeway to define how the payment of the supplement can be implemented,” given the global economic uncertainty, particularly the financial situation of Portugal’s key economic partners, and the uncertainty of budgetary changes that will materialize during the current specialty period of the State Budget for 2026, considering the current parliamentary framework.
In 2025, pensioners with lower pensions, up to 1,567.5 euros, received an extra amount during one month in September, ranging from 100, 150, to 200 euros, depending on the pension amount.
The PSD, CDS, and Chega rejected a PS proposal to convert the extraordinary supplement to be paid in 2026 into a permanent increase that would count towards forming the 2027 pension.
The PS proposed that next year, “any extraordinary supplement, whether one-time or sporadic and regardless of its amount, granted to pensioners based on the existing budget margin, should be converted into an extraordinary pension update for updating its value, depending on the evolution of the system’s structural margin.”
The Socialist bench envisioned that the update would be “fully funded by State Budget resources” and that if it was necessary to finance the Social Security Financial Stabilization Fund to proceed with this increase, compensation would come “from a one-percentage-point adjustment of IRC rates.”
Proposals from PCP, BE, Chega, and Livre to increase pensions next year were also rejected.
The PCP proposed that, from January 1, 2026, the update for all pensions correspond to 5% of the pension value, “with the update amount not being less than 75 euros per pensioner.”
BE proposed a minimum extraordinary increase of 50 euros per pensioner, following the regular annual update.
Chega proposed that pensions up to 1,567.5 euros be increased by 1.5%, without affecting the regular update.
The proposal from Livre aimed to ensure that, from January 1, 2026, the Government would proceed with a supplementary pension increase in addition to the annual update.
[Updated at 18:26]
