The Economic and Social Council (CES) asserts that the 2026 State Budget should prioritize a “structural increase in pensions” rather than extraordinary supports, emphasizing that the projected rise does not prevent the loss of purchasing power, according to the council’s opinion on the budget proposal.
At the end of today’s Council of Ministers meeting, Leitão Amaro stated that the 2026 budget includes “an additional expenditure of around 700 million euros for pensioners.”
The official explained that part of this amount is intended for “permanent pension increases for all, following the legal formula” of updates, and “another part is an increase in the Solidarity Supplement for the Elderly (CSI), to enhance the income of those with lower pensions.”
According to the minister, the 700 million euros represent a “significant effort, specifically aimed at a group which generates permanent expense,” aligning with the “preservation of purchasing power” and the “strengthening” of the same purchasing power for those receiving lower pensions. “Gradually we are adding more, it’s 40 euros more per month approved for next year,” he highlighted.
Nevertheless, “if more budgetary resources can be freed, not compromising subsequent budget exercises,” the executive aims to continue “with the availability to provide complements” for the coming year.
Leitão Amaro emphasized that this strategy is both the “most socially fair” and more “intergenerationally balanced.”
In a “global assessment” of the pension expenditure allocation, totaling 25,990.8 million euros, CES “underlines that, although extraordinary or one-off supports may have an immediate effect of increasing pensioners’ income, intended to mitigate, for example, inflationary periods or economic crises, the 2026 budget should prioritize structural pension increases over ‘ad hoc’ assistance [single aid].”
For the Council, “it is essential that pension policy ensures the predictability and sustainable increase of pensioners’ purchasing power, guaranteeing their dignity and long-term financial resilience, and preventing them from being permanently dependent on discretionary policy decisions.”
In both 2024 and 2025, the Government under Luís Montenegro provided, in September of each year, an extraordinary supplement of 100, 150, and 200 euros for pensioners up to a certain monthly income, of 1,527.78 euros (last year) and 1,567.50 euros (this year).
