Pensioners in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina are worried because the amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, which bring new parameters for adjusting pensions, have not yet been approved by the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, let alone the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Government of the Federation of BiH previously promised that the application of amendments to the Law on PIO will begin on January 1, 2026.
As part of the changes, instead of the previous parameters for increasing pensions, 50 percent of the growth of the gross domestic product and 50 percent of the growth of the consumer price index, the average salary in the FBiH and the consumer price index are introduced in the ratio of 60:40. And the increases would be twice a year, in January and July.
– We were worried! To make the situation worse, the president of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pensioners of FBiH, Redžo Mehić, scheduled a meeting of the Board of Directors only on December 22. What is the session worth then? Given that the amendments to the Law on PIO have not reached the Government of FBiH, we ask if there is any of us in the budget of the Federation of BiH for the year 2026 when it comes to increasing pensions – says Mustafa Trakić, member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pensioners of FBiH and president of the Association of Pensioners of Zenica-Doboj Canton.
He says he will wait a few more days, and then address the FBiH Parliament.
– We will ask for the consent of the pensioner associations from Sarajevo, Una-Sana Canton, Bosnia-Podrinje Canton, and more precisely for the Parliament to be the proposer of amendments to the Law on PIO. We can’t wait any longer. So, if the amendment of the articles of the law requested by the pensioners is not disputed, let’s proceed to the procedure. If Article 81, which concerns the calculation of the lowest pension, is disputed, it should be excluded. In general, I think that it was premature to change it in this way – says Trakić.
The amended Article 81 states that for 15 years of pensionable service and more, and less than 20 years, the pension cannot be lower than 60 percent of the average pension in the FBiH from December of the previous year. Now the average pension is 651 KM, and 60 percent of that is 390 KM.
Now, for example, the pension for 15 years of service and 65 years of life is 599 KM.
– We only said that those with 15 and 40 years of service cannot have the same pension, and we have nothing to do with this way of amending Article 81. I believe that this article should be changed in about 20 years. We do not want that member to be a stumbling block for 420,000 pensioners who are waiting for a pension increase. We do not even know whether the amendments to the PIO Act passed the Office for Legislation, Federal Ministry of Justice. A few days ago, an urgent letter was written to FBiH Prime Minister Nermin Nikšić and the Government of FBiH. There is no answer, but I think there is enough correspondence – says Trakić and says:
– I think they should no longer play with the patience of pensioners, he writes Factor.
