President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday that the government is moving forward this year with the pension reform with the aim of increasing pensions, especially for the low-income pensioners.

He also said that spending on welfare increased by 5% last year and in 2026 there will be an additional increase of 6.5%, reaching approximately 600 million euro.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Municipal Home for the Elderly in Larnaka, President Christodoulides said that the government aims to improve the quality of life of the elderly, through a series of measures and policies that the government has been implementing since the first day of assuming office. President Christodoulides referred to policies that were announced and implemented in the three years of his administration including the preparation and adoption of the First National Strategy and the relevant Action Plan for Active Ageing with 45 specific policies that aim to enhance the health, dignity, social participation and integration of the elderly.

Moreover, he referred to the pension reform, adding that "the last time that a substantive pension reform was carried out in Cyprus was in 1980.”

In 2026, he added, the government will proceed with the pension reform with one and only goal, to increase pensions, especially the ones of low-income pensioners noting that one can no longer cope with a pension of 500 or 510 euro.

"We have begun the preparatory work" the President concluded.

CNA/FZ/AAR/EPH/2026

ENDS, CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY