Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – According to Olivera Vukajlovic, Adviser to the President of Montenegro on Sustainable Development, the latest pension adjustment, which will increase the average pension by only a few euros a month, confirms that behind the Government's grand announcements lies a harsh reality, as rising living costs continue to far outpace increases in citizens' pensions.

“Pensioners in Montenegro cannot live on gimmicks and symbolic increases. When a pension increase amounts to five or six euros, while the costs of food, medicines, and basic necessities continue to rise, it is clear that we are talking about neglect and a lack of concern for the people who built this country,” Vukajlovic said in a press release.

She argued that it is particularly worrying that the Government has spent months highlighting its economic achievements, while those same purported successes translate into symbolic pension increases that are insufficient to cover even a single day's bills.

“If the economy is truly as strong as the Government claims, then citizens have the right to ask why that growth is not reflected in pensions,” Vukajlovic added.

According to her, the latest figures also expose a fundamental flaw in the current pension-adjustment model. When wage growth slows while prices continue to rise, pensioners become the first victims of misguided economic priorities.