OREANDA-NEWS. March 31, 2008.  This year, as a result of pension indexation on April 1, almost 90 percent of pensions under LVL 150 a month will increase by an average of LVL 11.5, including retirement pensions that will rise by LVL 11.95, LETA was informed by Welfare Ministry Communications Department's director Vineta Berzina.

Pensions under LVL 150 will be indexed on April 1 in line with inflation over the past six months.

According to the Central Statistics Bureau (CSB), in the period from September 1, 2007 to February 29 this year, consumer prices have increased 10.68 percent, therefore on April 1 a coefficient of 1.1068 will be used for indexing pensions.

Pensioners can calculate how much their pensions will increase by multiplying their current pension - excluding the additional age pension premium - with the correspondent index. For example, if a person is receiving an LVL 150 pension, the pension will be LVL 166.02 after the indexation.

According to data from the Welfare Ministry, as a result of indexation in April, 490,000 pensioners will receive bigger pensions.

To protect pensioners from the increase in the cost of living and to retain their purchasing capacity, indexation of pensions is carried out twice per year - on April 1 and October 1.