President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has announced that increasing the old-age social grant can only be done within the 2025/26 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF), which spans the next three to five years.
Nandi-Ndaitwah, while delivering her maiden state of the nation address in parliament on Thursday, said while she supports the gradual increment of the old-age pension from N$1 600 to N$3 000, the government cannot afford an increment this year.
“We had to take the very difficult decision this financial year not to increase the old-age social grants. This is due to the urgent need to prioritise our children, the young people, by constructing sport infrastructure and funding youth-related empowerment initiatives that will lead to job creation for our youth.
“I give you my assurances that the incremental increase of our old-age social grants will start during this MTEF,” Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
The old-age pension grant currently has 217 870 beneficiaries, with N$5.49 billion allocated for social grants, which includes N$979 million towards veterans welfare.
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